Jackson Junior 03
by drgemini86
Summary: Set in season 10, the aftermath of a horrific ritual offworld changes both Sam and Daniel's lives forever. Features mentions of rape and torture. SamDaniel, CamVala
1. Beginnings

**Jackson Junior, by DrGemini86**

**Summary:** Set in season 10. Following a horrific ritual off-world, Sam and Daniel's lives are changed forever, in more ways than they could possibly imagine.  
**Rating:** Mature  
**Category:** New Romance  
**Genres:** Action/Adventure, Friendship, Drama  
**Warnings:** Mentions of rape and torture, and a couple of other rude scenes  
**Spoilers:** Children of the Gods, The Nox, Singularity, Hathor, There But For the Grace of God, Politics, The Tok'ra, Tin Man, Holiday, Secrets, Gamekeeper, 1969, Between Two Fires, Point of View, One Hundred Days, Crystal Skull, Forever in a Day, Pretence, Jolinar's Memories, the Devil You Know, Watergate, Nemesis, Avenger 2.0, Red Sky, 2001, Fail Safe, Meridian, Revelations, Paradise Lost, Abyss, Fallen, Fragile Balance, Fallout, Grace, Chimera, Heroes, Lost City, Threads, Moebius, Avalon, Ties that Bind, Beachhead, Ripple Effect, Ethon, Fourth Horseman, Off the Grid, Camelot, Flesh and Blood, Morpheus, Pegasus Project, Uninvited, Counterstrike, 200, Memento Mori, Company of Thieves, Quest Part II, the Shroud, Line in the Sand, Talion, Dominion.  
**A/N: **This is the reMacGyvered version after I lost my last account -- finally found the original on FanLib and that's posted on Scientific Minds... I had already started this version by that time -- it is a little bit different what with the tension building up between our favourite twosome instead of the yay worthy scene coming almost out of left field, and the surgery bit is hopefully a little more realistic (thanks to booster-t for pointing out the major discrepancies in the last version). Thanks also to my perpetual reviewers of the Jackson Junior series: Transgenic-girl, booster-t, spyridon, nexis44, anglstrmoon, starprops, and apologies to anyone else I've not mentioned here (I appreciate you all the same!!!)

**Chapter One**

SG-1 came in hot, running through the event horizon and down the ramp, followed by a hail of rocks, soil and weapons fire. The gateroom personnel were ready and armed, in anticipation of the team's pursuers. Cam yelled up at the control-room, "Chief, close the Iris!"

Walter did as he was told, and soon the Iris closed as Landry rushed in. A few seconds later, a series of sickening thuds could be heard. It was then that Sam and Daniel both sat down heavily at the base of the ramp, holding their heads in their hands, with Teal'c and Vala standing behind them in a defensive posture. The gateroom personnel slowly stowed their weapons back in the Armoury, looking at SG-1 with concerned and curious expressions.

Landry stared at Sam and Daniel in concern before saying to Cam, "Colonel, what the _hell_ just happened?"

Cam remarked, swinging his hat in frustration, "The whole thing went south faster than a Democrat at a Republican convention. With all respect Sir, Jackson and Sam need to go to the Infirmary to get checked out -- some things happened on that planet."

Landry said with a sigh, "Very well, Colonel. Debrief in two hours. In the meantime, you and Teal'c escort Colonel Carter and Doctor Jackson to the Infirmary."

Cam and Teal'c nodded before proceeding to help their friends as Vala quickly followed, her face showing a mixture of anger and sadness.

Landry thought to himself as he turned on his heel to leave, "This job doesn't get easier. I don't know how Jack and George managed it without going nuts."


	2. Explanations

**Jackson Junior, by DrGemini86**

**Chapter Two**

Landry, Lam, Cam, Teal'c and Vala were at a briefing, where Lam was briefing them on Sam and Daniel's condition.

She said in her clinical voice, "Colonel Carter and Doctor Jackson both exhibit signs of external trauma in the form of bruising all over their torsos. The preliminary blood work on the Colonel was clean, but Doctor Jackson's showed an abnormally high level of Oestrogen –"

Cam interrupted, holding his hand up, and remarked, "Whoa, hold up a sec… Oestrogen? Isn't that the female hormone?"

"Yes, but men usually have a low level of the hormone – likewise, women have a varying level of testosterone."

Landry nodded slightly and said, "Proceed."

"They're still in shock, and I'm hoping that I could discover what happened."

She looked at Cam expectantly, and Landry asked, looking increasingly concerned at Cam's demeanour, "Colonel, what happened?"

Cam closed his eyes briefly before beginning, "Everything was all hunky-dory… Jackson was as happy as a lamb, saying something about them being descended from Ancient Greeks. They were a female-dominated society and men weren't allowed to talk to women. However, Jackson bought us a little grace by saying that Sam was our leader and that we had to remain with her, which was sweet."

He paused, staring at the tabletop briefly, before continuing, "And then it got squirrelly. They took our weapons saying that their laws didn't allow for it. Jackson insisted that we did what they said as there were some pretty huge women there… Did you see Futurama last night, Sir?"

Landry raised his eyebrows and remarked, "What does a cartoon show have to do with a briefing?!"

Teal'c piped up, "It has everything to do with this briefing, General Landry. I believe ColonelMitchell is referring to an Amazon tribe that featured once, who forced Fry and Kif to perform Snu Snu with them."

Landry remarked with a frown, "I'm not even going to ask for a translation…"

Cam said, "Yeah…," before continuing with his story, "So anyway, there were some scary women so we complied with their request. Next thing we know, Jackson and Sam are being dragged off by a bunch of them to be 'prepared'."

Landry asked, "Prepared?" "Yes Sir. They were force-fed some kind of moonshine and then forced to, ahem, make some Carter-Jacksons. It was awful, Sir… they made us all watch, and insisted that it was part of a ritual for luck and fertility. Sam and Jackson naturally refused but they were beaten into compliance, and we were clubbed a couple of times for intervening."

He covered his face in his hands before continuing, forcing himself to be calm, "They had taken our radios and firearms, and they had us surrounded."

Vala remarked, looking a touch sheepish by the end, "And that's where I attempted to save the day… kind of."

Landry gravely looked at her and asked, "What did you do?"

"I stole something."

This just gets better and better, Landry thought to himself as he regarded the newest member of SG-1 with a frown.

She continued, "Yeah, well, it was obvious that they wouldn't let us go any time soon, so I pretended to sneak into Hippolyta's house, where I looked for something remotely valuable looking. My intention was to get caught so that we would be let go for breaking their laws."

Cam said with a sigh, "She got caught, slapped around a few times, and _then_ forced to make little uber-Valas with either me or T. In the mean time, Jackson and Sam were… well, you know, Sir, you're a father."

Landry frowned at Cam but said nothing, while Lam lowered her head briefly to hide a smile.

Teal'c said, "ColonelMitchell, ValaMalDoran and myself were imprisoned, but we managed to escape by distracting the guard."

Cam remarked, "Guess they haven't been watching too many prison movies. Our guard had taken a shine to T-man here so we used that to our advantage."

Teal'c said with a grim expression, "Indeed." Landry raised an eyebrow sceptically and asked, "I know I'm going to regret asking this, but how?"

Vala remarked with a slight smile, "Nothing like you're thinking, General. We just had Muscles here flirt with her a little before pretending that he needed some Tretonin. She came in and I knocked her out."

"Was there only one guard?"

Cam nodded and replied, "Yeah… they were kinda arrogant about themselves."

Lam piped up, looking dismayed and disgusted yet trying to look professional, "So, what you're saying is that Colonel Carter and Doctor Jackson have been made to perform sexual intercourse under duress?"

Teal'c replied, "That is exactly what has been said."

Cam added, "Give or take a few synonyms."

She said with a sigh to Landry, "It would appear on the face of things that they are traumatised from their experience. I haven't detected any foreign substance in their blood work yet, but I think it would help if we had a sample of the intoxicant used, and we may have to discuss the option of psychological counselling."

Cam said with a frown, "I don't think it was _really_ booze… Hippolyta said something about it being a fertility drug… you know, she was pretty blurry about that whole thing."

Landry said with a sigh, "Ok people, reports on my desk before you sign out. Dismissed."

Landry and Lam left the room as Cam put his head down on his folded arms, and groaned loudly in frustration.

Teal'c said, "Come, we must see ColonelCarter and DanielJackson." Vala followed him out of the room, and Cam eventually followed, muttering swear words under his breath.


	3. Sam's Flashback

**Jackson Junior, by DrGemini86**

**Chapter Three**

Sam was barely aware of being poked and prodded, her mind clouded so that she couldn't think clearly. She tentatively opened her eyes and instantly recognised the familiar light fittings of the Infirmary. She couldn't remember how she had ended up here, which she thought was strange. She then opened her mouth to speak but nothing happened. Her head began to hurt and then images started to play in her head.

_SG-1 were in a hut, surrounded by several large women, some of them holding torches of burning wood. Cam, Vala and Teal'c were under very heavy guard and were hit several times when they made to object. Sam and Daniel were standing in the centre of the floor, at the foot of a large bed. Hippolyta grabbed Sam's hair, pulling her head back, and forced her to drink something that made her feel as though her lungs were dissolving. She tried to spit it out but received a kick in the back of her knees for her efforts, and the hair pulling grew in intensity._

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see another woman doing a similar thing to Daniel. Sam attempted to fight but was beaten across her back by what appeared to be a large wooden paddle. She grimaced in pain as she fell to her knees, aware of everyone's eyes on her. Daniel shouted, his voice sounding drowsy,

"No, no, don't do this, please!"

He was rewarded with a kick to his back and he fell to the ground. All their friends could do was watch in an awkward silence. Hippolyta shouted,

"Enough. All suitable couples perform the ritual of Eilyeithia for fertility and good fortune. If you resist further, I will be forced to kill you and your friends."

Sam closed her eyes as the liquid that they had been fed began to make her feel very drowsy. She was barely aware of Daniel protesting and being hit. She whispered,

"No…"

The next thing she knew, the audience was still there as she and Daniel were roughly forced onto the bed, their clothes stripped. She could see Cam and Vala's emotions emerging onto their faces periodically, and Teal'c looking increasingly grim. She whispered hoarsely,

"Let us go… we can go back through the 'gate and never come here again."

She winced as she was punched across the face, and when she looked away, she saw Daniel next to her, his eyes closed, tears running down his cheeks. This can't be happening, she told herself. Hippolyta shouted, hitting him for emphasis and punctuation,

"You will participate in the ritual or you will die."

Daniel whispered, "I'm so sorry Sam."

"No, it should be me saying sorry – if I hadn't stepped in when that woman felt your thigh, we probably wouldn't be here."

She closed her eyes, trying to delay the inevitable, but they were both rewarded with beatings. She steeled herself, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She reached out to touch his face as his tears fell copiously, and she gazed at the cerulean eyes that had seen so much pain in their life. He whispered,

"I don't want to do this."

"Neither do I but it looks as though we haven't a choice."

He caressed her jaw and replied, "I'll try not to hurt you."

"Ok…"

He tentatively kissed her, the tears never stopping, and she felt the tears fall from her own eyes. He gently made love to her, doing his best not to hurt her.

Back in the present, her eyes snapped open and she gasped in horror. She struggled to sit up, grimacing at the pain of her bruises, and she was immediately pushed down by Lam and a Nurse. Sam whispered,

"Where's Daniel?"

"Doctor Jackson is in another isolation room. Can you tell me what happened?"

Hot tears ran down Sam's cheeks as she sat, holding her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth slightly. She felt a slight prickling sensation before her eyelids began to droop and she felt hands pushing her back onto the bed.


	4. Daniel's Flashback

**Jackson Junior, by DrGemini86**

**Chapter Four**

Daniel stared at the ceiling of his isolation room, tears running down his cheeks as his memories returned in flashback form.

_She was crying as he touched her, and he hated himself. For the second time in his life, he found himself hating someone – the locals. Dark hate swamped his mind as he touched her. How could he do this to her? She was his best friend. Of course, he wanted her, but not like this, not while being humiliated in front of what seemed like the whole village and their teammates. He tried to stop but each time, the searing pain of yet another beating flooded through his body, forcing him to continue. He whispered, tears ever flowing,_

"I'm so sorry Sam."

He was barely aware of his surroundings as he directed his hate at the inhabitants of the planet, and then himself. He felt that he could have done a lot more to prevent the incident from happening in the first place. He closed his eyes and the image of Jack's face entered his mind.

He sat up, wincing at the pain, and found himself alone. He called out,

"Sam!"

The door flew open and Doctor Lam entered, followed by Teal'c and a Nurse. He asked them, panicking,

"Where's Sam!?"

Lam shushed him, gently easing him back on the bed, and Daniel looked up at Teal'c, asking,

"Where's Sam?"

"ColonelCarter is in another isolation room, DanielJackson."

"How is she?"

Lam replied, "We had to sedate her – she's still in shock. Your team-mates have already briefed General Landry on what happened."

Daniel closed his eyes and said, tears continuing, "Oh God, I've hurt her."

He held his knees to his chest, sobbing into his knees, and Lam signalled to a Nurse, who injected the Archaeologist with a syringe. Teal'c and Lam then eased him back onto the bed, and Lam said to Teal'c,

"That should keep him asleep for at least an hour. I think it would advisable if you stayed with him so that he'll see a familiar face when he wakes up."

Teal'c nodded in assent and sat down in the chair next to Daniel's bed, watching the troubled Archaeologist sleep.


	5. A Development

_They were alone, the ritual over. He held her, tears streaming down his face and onto her chest. He whispered, unable to look at her,_

"_I'm sorry, Sam. Oh God, I'm so sorry."_

_Her eyes stared at him – she couldn't believe what had just happened. They – they had just had sex. Ten years of being close friends and it had all gone because of some stupid ritual. Hot tears ran down her cheeks before she could stop them. Finally, he looked at her, pain and a whole multitude of emotions swirling in those cerulean whirlpools of his._

"_Sam, I know this isn't the place to ask you, especially not now, but… can you ever forgive me?"_

_She stared up at him, unable to speak. Instead, the tears ran faster, and he rested his head in the crook of her neck, whispering,_

"_I'm so sorry."_

In her isolation room, Sam woke up screaming, the pain too much to bear. Cam, who had been sat by her bed, got up and ran to the door, opening it and shouting,

"Doc! Sam's awake!"

He returned to her side, not sure what he should do as he watched her go into a state of catatonia. She held her knees against her chest, staring at the bed in front of her, rocking herself back and forth. Cam shrugged slightly, utterly helpless, before deciding to smooth her hair.

Lam came rushing in, saying,

"Sorry, Doctor Jackson just woke up too. What happened?"

Cam replied as he gazed sadly at his friend, "She woke up screaming her head off and now… now she's gone nuts, hasn't she?"

Lam said as she eased Sam back onto the bed, "This is quite common in cases of deep trauma. It will take a long time and a lot of support, but she will work through it – both of them will."

Sam blinked and whispered, "I want to see Daniel."

Lam replied, "I'm afraid not, Colonel. Neither of you are well enough – you're barely sleeping peacefully as it is."

Sam's jaw clenched and she whispered, more firmly this time,

"I. Want. To. See. Daniel."

"Colonel, you…"

Sam snapped, staring at the ceiling,

"If I have to do this myself, I will."

Cam looked across at Lam and said,

"Hey Doc, I'll take her – if she gets too upset, I'll bring her back."

Lam replied with a frown as she assessed the situation,

"I don't know…"

She continued with a sigh, gazing up at Cam,

"Ok, only for a few minutes though. I don't know what effect it's going to have on her, but I suppose it can't be much worse than it is now. Colonel, bring her back at the first sign of trouble."

Cam remarked with a slight smile, "Will do, Ma'am."

He gently helped Sam out of the bed, and arm in arm they slowly made their way to Daniel's room, Lam following them with a doubtful look on her face.


	6. Desperately Seeking Solace

Daniel stared at the ceiling, still hating himself. Teal'c sat at his side and said,

"If you blame yourself, then know this – you are not at fault. Hippolyta and her people forced you to join with ColonelCarter."

Daniel replied in a hoarse whisper,

"I could've stopped it – I'd rather die than hurt Sam."

"How could you have prevented it from happening? They had removed our weapons and repeatedly assaulted you and ColonelCarter. The blame lies with Hippolyta. _You_ could not have done anything to change the outcome."

Daniel snapped, "I'm the linguist, the diplomat, for crying out loud! I'm supposed to be able to prevent diplomatic incidents like this from happening! I've hurt Sam and I hate myself."

Teal'c placed his hand on Daniel's arm in an attempt to calm the Archaeologist, who said as he closed his eyes,

"I'm sorry Teal'c – you didn't deserve that."

"Perhaps you should pay ColonelCarter a visit to put your mind at ease. I do not believe that she would blame you for what had transpired."

Daniel sighed but said nothing as he continued to stare at the ceiling.

The door opened to reveal Cam and a very upset Sam, who gasped slightly on seeing Daniel. Daniel, who had thought it was just Lam or a Nurse, turned to look at the door in surprise. He closed his eyes before looking straight up at the ceiling, saying,

"I'm sorry Sam."

Teal'c stood to leave, silently gesturing for Cam to do the same. The Southern Colonel reluctantly left, not before saying to Sam,

"I'll be right outside."

The words barely registered with her as she softly made her way to Daniel's bed. Images of what had happened flashed through her head and more tears ran down her cheeks, her mind a whirlpool of a large multitude of emotions. Taking him by surprise, she lay down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. Still not looking at her, he whispered,

"I'm sorry."

Gazing at him through her tears, she tentatively touched his jaw and replied,

"You don't have anything to apologise for. I don't blame you and I never will. _They _made us do it."

He turned to look at her, his eyes glistening with unshed tears as he said sincerely,

"Sam, I didn't want to ruin things for you and Jack… he's going to pummel me when he finds out."

She put a finger on his lips and replied, "Don't mention him – this has nothing to do with him. _Nothing_."

"But…"

"No… Despite the rumours, no. Nothing happened."

He closed his eyes and whispered, "He's still going to pummel me."

"He can try… being a Major-General isn't going to help him much though."

He gazed at her in surprise and whispered, "You'd do that?"

She nodded and he tenderly pushed her hair out of her eyes. He whispered,

"We'll get through this."

"I know… it just hurts a lot."

"Same here… I – I didn't hurt you did I?"

She shook her head and replied with a small tearful smile,

"No, you… _you_ were something else… How's the bruising?"

He grimaced slightly as his fingers ran over the fabric of his scrubs. She gazed at him, a silent question in her eyes. Instantly understanding what she wanted, he whispered,

"It could be scary."

In reply, she lifted his t-shirt and a gasp left her lips as she saw the heavy bruising. A mixture of sadness and anger rushed through her as her eyes followed the marks that defaced his body. He gently placed his hand over hers, lowering his t-shirt, tears in his own eyes.

_She looked over his shoulder and realised that they were alone. She tentatively stroked his shoulder and whispered, forcing herself to be calm,_

"_They've gone – where are our clothes? We can make a break for it."_

_He rolled off her, and she was about to close her eyes in anticipation of sighting his naked torso when she gasped on seeing the ugly bruising. He turned, hearing the sound, and asked,_

"_Sam?"_

"_Oh God, Daniel, what have they done to you?"_

_He gazed down at his own torso briefly before replying, tears threatening to fall again,_

"_It's not as bad as what they did to you."_

She gasped at the intensity of her flashback, and he held her, asking with a worried expression,

"Sam?"

Snapping back to the present, she whispered, "Flashback," before burying her face in his shoulder as the tears fell harder.

He nodded in understanding as he caressed the back of her head, replying,

"I've had some too… come on, let's try to get some sleep before Doctor Lam comes to drag you back to your bed."

She nodded, and gazed up at him, whispering,

"In answer to what you asked me back on the planet, I don't forgive you, because there isn't anything to forgive."

Amazed, he exhaled and whispered,

"Oh Sam."

He kissed her hair before they both closed their eyes, smiling slightly at the warmth of each other's bodies.


	7. Finding Solace

As Doctor Lam passed Daniel's room, she noticed that both Cam and Teal'c were stood outside. She frowned slightly as she said to Cam, incredulous,

"Colonel Mitchell, please do not tell me that you left Colonel Carter in there… How long has she been in there?"

Cam replied, "About an hour."

Teal'c added, "It would appear that this is a part of the healing process for both of them."

Lam sighed slightly before quietly opening the door and entering, followed by Cam and Teal'c. What she saw stopped her in her tracks. Sam and Daniel were both sound asleep with peaceful expressions on their faces, a stark contrast to their countenances earlier. Daniel's arms were around Sam as her head rested on his shoulder, a hand on his chest.

Cam remarked quietly with a slight smile as he clapped Teal'c on the shoulder,

"Somehow I think they'll pull through this."

Teal'c smiled a little, and Lam wordlessly checked the scientists out. She turned to Colonel Mitchell and whispered as she stood next to him,

"Neither of them has looked that peaceful since they were brought in… I don't think they'll need psychological help just yet, although I suppose it would help if they were allowed to talk about their ordeal with you, Teal'c and Vala."

Cam and Teal'c nodded before following her out of the room, neither of them hearing the slight sighs from the two scientists as they shifted in their sleep.


	8. Jack's Back

Jack arrived at the SGC, having scanned a report from Landry… all that sank in were the words 'sexual intercourse' and 'duress', and he had instantly picked up the phone to order a plane ticket to Colorado Springs.

In dress blues, his cap under his arm, he knocked on Landry's door, and on hearing the General call 'Enter!', opened the door and stepped inside. He closed the door behind him and said, taking a seat opposite Landry,

"Hey Hank, I came as soon as I could… what happened?"

Landry replied, "Hello Jack…"

He remarked, "Didn't you read the report?!"

On seeing Jack raise his eyebrows, he continued with a resigned expression,

"I should've known that 'Jack O'Neill' and 'reading' do not go together in the same sentence unless they're flanking the word 'hates'."

Jack remarked, "Try 'loathes'."

Landry rolled his eyes and continued, "Ok, in a nutshell, the mission to 292 failed – Colonel Carter and Doctor Jackson were forced to have sexual intercourse with each other and were beaten into compliance…"

Jack ran his fingers through his cropped hair and exclaimed,

"Shit! This never happened when _I_ was in charge! How… why… what for?!"

Landry replied with a grim expression,

"It was some crazy fertility ritual, but I'm not completely sure what started it. According to Colonel Mitchell, it was sudden, but it seems to me that that sort of thing would have to be provoked. Colonel Carter and Doctor Jackson were repeatedly beaten, as were the rest of SG-1, only to a lesser degree. In short, only the Colonel and Doctor Jackson require a long stay in the Infirmary. As for the psychological issues, they have both been in states of catatonia for long periods, although this morning Carolyn tells me that it eased up significantly when they sought solace in each other."

Jack stared at him with an incredulous expression and Landry raised his eyebrows, remarking with a frown,

"No… no like that, Jack."

"Well, can I go see them?"

Landry replied, "As long as you don't cause trouble."

Jack remarked as he got up, "Now why would I do that?"

"You're forgetting that I know you… I know about _that._"

"Relax Hank, they're both my friends."

"Just be careful though… if I hear that you've beaten up Doctor Jackson, I'll personally boot you through the 'gate to Edora."

From the door, Jack remarked with a smirk, "Ah, now _that_ would be an improvement on D.C."

Landry retorted with a slight smile, "Get the hell out of my office, Jack."


	9. Confrontations

Dressed in BDUs, Jack arrived in the Infirmary, and was greeted by Teal'c. Jack clapped him on the shoulder and said with a distracted expression,

"Nice to see you again, T."

Teal'c nodded and replied with a smile, "Indeed, O'Neill."

Jack walked past him to Lam and asked, "Where's Daniel… and Carter?"

Lam replied, straightening up, "They're both in Isolation room 1, Sir. They're sleeping at the moment… I don't think it…"

Jack didn't let her finish as he walked to the Isolation room, and Lam threw her hands up in despair. Cam came running from the entrance of the Infirmary, realising that something bad could happen, and he intercepted the General. He said quickly, a little loudly to give Sam and Daniel a chance to wake up,

"Hi Sir… long time no see!"

Jack wordlessly pushed him out of the way, and went into the room without knocking.

He leant against the closed door and stared in surprise as he saw Sam and Daniel sleeping peacefully together. His heart ached as he watched her slowly smile as she shifted in her sleep, and Daniel gently tightening his hold. Jack didn't know how he should feel. The woman that he loved was in the arms of his best friend. Granted, he had never actually told her how he felt, but still he couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy and betrayal at the sight before him.

He sat down heavily in the chair next to the bed with a sigh, and watched the two of them for a long moment. Just as he was about to say something, Daniel flinched and frowned in his sleep, whispering,

"No… no, please don't do this! No."

She woke up, not seeing Jack due to him being behind her, and gently smoothed Daniel's brow, whispering, her voice breaking with emotion,

"Daniel, we're home. It's ok. You're safe now."

His frown faded and his features noticeably relaxed as he whispered,

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be… I keep telling you it wasn't your fault. _They_ made us do it."

He opened his eyes and seeing Jack, said in surprise, "Jack."

Sam, still not seeing Jack, replied, "Daniel, I told you – there was nothing between us… if he touches you, I'll…"

Daniel shook his head, and nodded towards the General behind her, saying,

"No… Jack!"

She gasped in surprise, turning her head, and nearly fell out of the bed on seeing Jack with his arms folded across his chest, a slightly bemused look on his face. Daniel held her tightly to stop her from falling and she said, wincing at the pain of her bruises,

"Sir! How are you?"

Daniel, realising how tight his grip was, lessened it somewhat and whispered an apology. Jack stared at the two of them incredulously before saying in a cold voice,

"Daniel and I need to talk."

Daniel remarked, "Jack, you can't possibly be suggesting that she leave! I don't know how much of that report you read, if at all, but…"

Jack interrupted him by shouting, "Now!"

The tears filled Sam's eyes as she tentatively got up, and the door opened to reveal a grim looking Teal'c. He said to Jack,

"I trust that you will not hurt either of them…"

Jack remarked, "Much."

Jack and Daniel silently watched Teal'c escort Sam out of the room. When the door closed, Daniel turned to face Jack as he remarked,

"You can be one cold hearted son-of-a-bitch, Jack."

Jack snapped, "Don't give me that! How long has it been since you had a woman in your arms?! You just couldn't help yourself, could you!? Of all the cotton-pickin'…"

Daniel said quietly as he turned to look up at the ceiling, "I think you better leave, Jack."

"Not until I've said what I have to say. She's mine, Daniel, and you… you touched her!"

Daniel exclaimed, turning to face him again, "Jack, one: Sam was never yours, or anyone else's for that matter. Two: I had no choice – we were both beaten and threatened with death. Come on, you've been in similar situations, although nowhere near as terrible, where you've had to choose between your own life and ours. If they had just beaten me, I would've let them kill me. I would rather die than hurt Sam, but as it happens, we all got clubbed, but Sam and I got it worse."

Jack sighed, rubbing his face with his hands, and Daniel continued, his voice dripping with sarcasm,

"Do you want the proof? Obviously you can't see the nightmares or the flashbacks, but I've got bruising for you to gloat over."

Daniel lifted up his t-shirt and said firmly,

"Take a look Jack, take a look at what they did to me… If you think that that's bad, you should see Sam. You were probably too blind with rage to see the bruise on her jaw but that's only a small part of what happened to her."

Jack peeked through his fingers at the vivid bruises covering the younger man's stomach and chest. The General stared in muted horror at the injuries, and Daniel continued as he lowered his t-shirt again,

"We're both lucky that we didn't get anything broken… but we have to have morphine to ease the pain now that the shock's worn off. It hurts Jack."

Daniel turned back to the ceiling once more, and Jack asked point-blank,

"Do you love her?"

"Of course I do."

Jack persisted, "You know what I mean. Do you _love_ her?"

Daniel turned to him again, his eyes showing an inordinate amount of emotional pain that he had received over the years,

"Yes Jack, I love her, I'm _in_ love with her, but I know she doesn't feel the same way, so it doesn't matter. She's my best friend, I can't lose her."

His voice broke as he said the word 'lose', and Jack suddenly had the urge to run straight out of the Infirmary and the mountain, but he fought it. Instead, he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the younger man into a loose hug, whispering into his hair with a sad expression,

"I'm sorry Daniel. I should've waited 'til you were well before digging into you like this."

Daniel, returning the hug, closed his eyes and whispered,

"It's ok – at least you got it out of your system."

Unknown to them, a certain raven-haired ex-thief, a southern Colonel and a Jaffa had been listening to every word through a small gap in the door.


	10. Sick

A few weeks later, Lam discharged the scientists, strictly ordering them to convalesce at home. SG-1 was placed on downtime, so Cam took charge and moved the scientists to Sam's house as it had a spare bedroom where he planned on staying. Due to Teal'c and Vala's status as potential security risks, they visited occasionally during the day, Teal'c more so than Vala as the raven-haired ex-thief seemed rather troubled in their company.

Jack frequently called from D.C. offering to come to Colorado Springs within seconds, despite Daniel informing him that he couldn't actually travel from D.C to Colorado Springs in that timeframe. This resulted in Jack making a mumbled remark about smart-assed immortal Archaeologists.

Sam and Daniel shared her bed, neither one of them wanting to be alone during the nightmares or flashbacks, which surfaced quite a few times. At one point, he wept in his sleep as he vividly relived their ordeal, and she held him to her chest, shushing him as she ran her fingers through his hair, calming him. Likewise, she had relived being repeatedly beaten, and he held her, smoothing her hair.

One morning, Sam woke up cold and alone. She felt his side of the bed and realised that it was very warm, which meant that he had only just got up. Grimacing somewhat at her bruises, she got up to look for him. She peered into the bathroom, getting ready to shut her eyes, when she saw him bent over the ceramic bowl, being violently sick. She shouted for Cam before crouching next to him, ignoring her own pain, and mopping his face with a damp flannel. She pulled him into a hug and whispered,

"It's ok…"

She felt his surprisingly hot forehead on her shoulder, and she said as she felt his forehead with her hand,

"Daniel, you're burning up."

He closed his eyes briefly and replied,

"I feel really dizzy – it's not a fever – I've had them before. I think it could be that _thing_ they made us drink… have you been feeling sick?"

She shook her head and replied, "No."

She hugged him again just as Cam came running in. He took one look at Daniel and said,

"Sam, get dressed – we're going to the SGC."


	11. A Shocking Revelation

Sam, Cam and Teal'c waited in the observation room, as Lam performed test after test on the Archaeologist to ascertain what had made him sick. From where they sat, they could see him sweating profusely. Lam had him hooked up to an IV so as rehydrate him.

A few hours later, the three members of SG-1 were called to Lam's office with Daniel, after he came back from being sick again. Lam sat behind her desk as she said, looking very shocked,

"This is highly unprecedented. We performed several tests, including on his blood and urine, and they all came back with the same answer."

SG-1 looked at her apprehensively, and then she dropped a bombshell,

"Doctor Jackson is pregnant."

Daniel's face froze, Sam's jaw dropped, and Teal'c raised an eyebrow. Cam guffawed, thinking it to be some kind of joke, and he remarked,

"Aw Doc, that was a good one… what's really wrong with him?"

Lam replied seriously, "No, he really is pregnant."

"What!?!"

Sam cleared her throat and said, "Surely there's some sort of mistake… he's a guy… guy's can't have babies!"

Lam shook her head and replied, "He is undeniably pregnant."

Daniel put his head in his hands as her words hit him, and Lam continued,

"It certainly accounts for the elevated levels of Oestrogen and Progesterone, the vomiting, the mood swings, but still… wow, you can understand how… odd this is.."

The four members of SG-1 just stared at her in shock at the revelation. Cam, the news still not quite sinking in with him, remarked with a confused expression,

"So, whose is it?"

Lam shot him a withering look, and Sam put an arm around Daniel as his tears threatened to fall. She hugged him as he began to uncontrollably sob into her shoulder, making Cam feel more than a little uncomfortable. Lam said quietly,

"I could contact a Gynaecologist to perform an abortion if you want… you don't have to make the decision now – think about it first."

Daniel dried his eyes and looked up at her. He said, obviously forcing himself to be calm,

"I know you're fairly new to the SGC and don't really know us that well, but you _do_ know that I won't allow you to do that. It's a life, a human life, growing inside of me. It didn't choose to be there – the decision was out of its hands, out of our hands."

His friends turned to look at him with surprised expressions, and Lam asked a question that she had never in her wildest dreams thought that she would be asking a man,

"Are you sure Doctor Jackson? Are you sure that you want to keep the baby?"

Daniel nodded, staring down at his hands as Sam reassuringly squeezed his upper arm.


	12. A Plan

SG-1, minus Vala, was in Landry's office. The older man sat immobile behind his desk, the sudden revelation too much to take in. Sam and Cam sat either side of a very vulnerable looking Daniel, as a stoic Teal'c took up a defensive position behind his friends.

Finally the General spoke. He ran his fingers through his greying hair before exhaling, and saying,

"Let me get this straight… Doctor Jackson, who is a man, might I add, is pregnant?"

Cam nodded and remarked with a slight smile,

"Yes Sir. Can't get straighter than that, and that's sayin' somethin'."

Landry thought that he was in the middle of one bizarre daydream and that at any minute he would return to reality, right in the middle of being briefed by SG-3. At present, he would rather have been sat in a meeting with a whole commando of marines than face this. He exhaled, focussing his gaze on Daniel, and said,

"And Doctor Jackson, I understand that you would prefer to keep the baby."

Daniel, whose gaze had fallen to his lap long before then, nodded slightly and replied in a surprisingly strong voice,

"Yes General."

Sam squeezed Daniel's hand, and Landry made a defeated gesture with his hands and just took to staring at the Archaeologist in disbelief. Sam took the opportunity to speak. She said in a calm voice,

"Sir, this can't get out… the NID would most likely want to experiment on him seeing as this is totally unprecedented…"

Cam interrupted her with a remark,

"If you don't count Governator in Junior."

Teal'c said with an unreadable expression,

"While DanielJackson _is_ carrying ColonelCarter's child, he did not experiment on himself using a fertility drug, nor did his morally-challenged acquaintance acquire human ova from a laboratory."

Cam rolled his eyes and remarked, "Thanks T-man."

Sam felt rather weird after Teal'c finished speaking, the news finally sinking in that not only was Daniel with child, he was carrying her child too. Landry cleared his throat and glared momentarily at a nonchalant Cam before asking Sam,

"What do you have in mind, Colonel?"

Forcing herself to focus, she replied,

"Well, seeing as the non-consensual sex made the reports, perhaps we could pretend that I'm the one who's pregnant. We could keep this out of any official communiqué, and only keep Doctor Lam in the loop, as well as General O'Neill. Perhaps we could use the General's position to our advantage in order to keep this under the wraps."

Landry looked from one member to the other and said with a sigh,

"Seeing as no-one has pointed out any flaws in this plan, I presume that you have already discussed this and reached a conclusion."

Cam replied, "Yes Sir… Sam is going to wear padding during the second trimester before wearing a pregnancy suit. It's the only viable option we could come up with, although it would help if _she_ was pregnant too."

Sam remarked, "Cam, no matter how many times you say it, this is _not_ going turn out like that movie!"

Daniel joked with a small smile, "I don't have an Austrian accent, although I could fake one, I suppose."

Landry cleared his throat and rebuked his second-in-command,

"Colonel Mitchell, suggesting that Colonel Carter get pregnant can count as inappropriate conduct."

Cam retorted with a cheeky expression, "Well Sir, it _was_ related to the present situation!"

Landry looked at him in warning, before saying to the rest,

"Ok… you're already on extended leave because of your experiences on the planet… I will call General O'Neill and inform him of the situation and the plan. If he agrees, I'll contact you later this evening or tomorrow morning."

He rubbed his face with his hands before remarking with a sigh,

"I can just see his face now."


	13. Vala

As the four members of SG-1 left Landry's office, Cam took charge again and said,

"We need to get y'all home… T, you wanna tag along?"

Teal'c replied as they turned a corner, "I will visit later this evening as planned. I have promised to teach Colonel Dixon how to play Pau'mac."

Cam stared at him, not understanding, and Daniel helped him out, saying,

"Pau'mac is the Jaffa version of Blackjack."

"Oh right…"

He clapped Teal'c on the shoulder and asked,

"Mind if I tag along someday? You've never told me about Jaffa card games."

Teal'c replied, "You have never asked."

Sam said with a smile, "Cam, go ahead – it'll be a while before Daniel and I are ready to leave anyway."

"Y'sure?"

Sam nodded and Cam bounded off with Teal'c. Daniel turned to Sam and asked,

"What are we going to do? I thought we were off home."

"We are… but you need to sort something out."

They had arrived at Daniel's office, and she continued as she made sure he was sitting comfortably,

"You need to talk to Vala. We're a team, Daniel, and if one member's off, the dynamic goes. She's been avoiding both of us since _this_ happened."

He stared at his hands before asking,

"Is she mad?"

"I don't know… she seems like it. You need to clear the air though, while you're still able to uphold an argument. I'll go get her."

She made to leave but he said, making her pause,

"Sam… don't be gone long."

She turned to see him looking a lot more vulnerable than she had ever remembered seeing him. She knelt down next to his chair and pulled him into a hug. He rested his chin on her shoulder and whispered,

"I'm so sorry."

"Daniel, don't apologise for anything."

She pulled back and smoothed his hair back before saying as she got up,

"I'll be here for you, just like Cam, Teal'c, and eventually Vala."

"Thanks."

--------------------

Sam ushered a reluctant Vala into Daniel's office, before saying to the Archaeologist,

"I'll be right outside if you need anything, ok?"

He nodded, his gaze still focussed on his hands, and she remarked to Vala, fire in her eyes,

"Go easy on Daniel… you may be our team-mate, but that's not going to stop me from harming you if you lay a finger on him or make him upset. Capische?"

Vala, stunned, just nodded and Sam left, smiling briefly at Daniel. The door closed and Vala rounded on Daniel, remarking quietly,

"How could you? You could've stopped, or you could've faked it, but instead you had sex with _her_!?"

She folded her arms across her chest and stared at him, her eyes showing her whirling emotions. He replied with a sigh, in an almost emotionless voice,

"Vala, you were there… you saw what they did to both of us, to you, Teal'c and Mitchell too. If they had only beaten me, I would have let them kill me…"

She interrupted him, waving her hands frantically as she exclaimed,

"I don't want to hear all that again!"

He looked up, meeting her gaze with a frown and remarked,

"Excuse me? Again!?"

She closed her eyes briefly, realising that she had said too much, and she sighed. He narrowed his eyes at her before quietly albeit angrily remarking,

"I can't believe you were listening to my private conversation with Jack. You had no right to do that."

She turned away from him and asked, "So, is it true then? Do you love _her_?"

He replied with a sigh as he once more looked at his hands,

"If by _her_,you mean Sam, then of course I do, more than anything or anyone in two galaxies, but she doesn't feel the same way. I don't care anyway. She's my best friend."

She spun around, looking at him accusingly, exclaiming,

"Your _best_ friend!? What about me!?"

He replied calmly, "You're my friend, Vala, but Sam is, and forever will be my best friend. We've known each other for nearly a decade, far longer than I've known you…"

"I thought we had something, Daniel."

He looked up at her, sighing again, and remarked in a very calm voice,

"What? A friendship? We have that. A romantic relationship? No, not when I have feelings for Sam. You're a beautiful, intelligent woman, Vala, and I love you, but I'm not _in_ love with you. You're my friend and you could make a guy very happy some day."

She willed her tears not to fall as she asked him,

"If it had been me that was forced to have sex with you, would this conversation be any different?"

He replied, still looking up at her, "Apart from the obvious differences, no, because I already had feelings for Sam long before the mission, longer than I knew it myself. I love her and it's not the kind of love that's fleeting either."

"Dammit Daniel, I would've…"

He snapped, interrupting her, "What? You would have what? Don't say what I think you're going to say, because that is absolutely disgusting. We were made to have sex under duress and you're telling me that if it had been you instead of Sam… just don't go there."

She stamped her foot in frustration, and he continued,

"Vala, please don't make this any more difficult than it already is. Being angry and upset at me is not going to change the way I feel – I can't help it."

Without another word, she sat in his lap and he gazed at her. She took a deep breath and said,

"I'm sorry Daniel… this is all just so odd. I'm used to guys finding me irresistible and yet here you are proving to be impervious to my charms. For the record, I do love you, a lot, but I'm going to be gracious enough to let it go, despite you being a rare specimen. As for your pregnancy, I offer you my services and guidance as a mother myself… ok, your baby most likely isn't going to be hell-bent on dominating the galaxy, but I could help you out there."

He pushed her hair behind her ears before saying,

"Thanks… I appreciate that it took a lot for you to say that. I've got to tell you one thing though – you don't love me. I may be the long-running SGC Mr Oblivious, but I know love when I see it. You're simply curious as to why I don't act like the other guys you've known. I think Mitchell has his eyes on you."

Surprised, she remarked, "Cameron Mitchell!? Please…. really?"

He nodded and retorted with a small smile, "Yep… he asked me what type of food you liked."

"You're joking right?"

He shook his head and replied, "No, I'm a terrible liar and you would know the instant I began the first word. Mitchell _is_ into you."

She kissed him on the cheek before standing up, and saying,

"Well, this has been an extraordinary little making up session. I'm glad we're still friends… no hard feelings. I'll just… go for a walk."

He remarked with a smile, "Go easy on him – he doesn't work well under heavy flirting. Just act casual."

She flashed him a grin before quickly leaving the room. He sat there with a wistful smile on his face, wondering if he and Sam would ever have a chance.


	14. Another Shocking Revelation

Daniel noticed that several minutes had gone by since Vala had left, and Sam hadn't re-entered the office. He called,

"Sam?"

There wasn't a reply so he stood up and poked his head out of the doorway, only to see the corridor empty. He frowned slightly, recalling that she said that she would be outside. He then began to worry that something had happened so he ran to her lab. Finding it empty, he breathlessly ran to the Infirmary, where Lam said with a soft smile, out of earshot from the Nurses,

"Doctor Jackson, you should be taking things easy in your condition."

He nodded quickly and asked, "Have you seen Sam?"

She replied with a serious expression,

"She's waiting in my office…"

"Why? Is anything wrong?"

"She felt a little sick so she dropped by and I performed a blood test. The results should be here soon."

"Can I see her?"

"Sure."

He nearly ran past the Doctor to the office where Sam nervously sat in a chair, waiting for blood test results. He sat down next to her and asked,

"Sam, are you ok?"

Pulled out of her reverie, she replied with a slight smile,

"I think so…"

Sensing a 'but', he asked, "But…?"

"I don't want to get my hopes up, but I think it's morning sickness."

His eyebrows nearly shot through the roof, and he stammered,

"B-b-but you're not sure, right?"

She shook her head before resting it on his shoulder. She asked him,

"How did Vala go?"

"A little heatedly at first but we had a little chat… I think I set the ball into motion for her and Mitchell though."

She chuckled and remarked, "Those hormones must be getting to you."

He caressed her hair as he smiled before asking,

"If you are pregnant, do you think our babies are going to count as twins?"

Her face froze for a brief second as the idea filtered into her consciousness, and she eventually replied,

"Um, probably… although they're not in the same placenta… that's if _I_ am pregnant though… for all we know, it could be sympathy pains or stress or the trauma."

Before he could reply, Lam entered the room, carrying a folder. She sat down behind her desk and flicked through several pages before speaking. She said in an exceedingly calm voice,

"This is very strange… Colonel, your blood work was clean in all previous tests, but now it's showing elevated levels of Oestrogen and Progesterone."

Sam's breath caught in her throat, as did Daniel's, and the Doctor continued with a smile,

"Congratulations Colonel Carter, you're pregnant."

Despite expecting the news somewhat, Sam couldn't help but let out a small sob. She turned to Daniel, chewing her lip, and whispering,

"I'm going to be a mother."

He replied with a smile as he squeezed her hand,

"Me too."

Lam cleared her throat and asked,

"Can I assume that you wish to keep the baby?"

Sam glanced at Daniel before remarking with a slow smile,

"Well, I can't have Daniel here going through this alone. Yes, I'm keeping my – our – baby."

Just at that moment, Cam knocked on the door, opened it and said, "Hey Doc…" before seeing Sam and Daniel. He remarked with a concerned expression,

"There you are – I was wonderin' where you guys had wandered off to… everything ok?"

Sam took a deep breath as she held Daniel's hand and she said,

"Yes… everything's fine… I won't be needing the pregnancy suit after all… I'm pregnant."

Cam stared at the two pregnant _people_ in disbelief and exclaimed,

"Holy Kansas! It never rain but it pours with you two."


	15. Jack, again

Later that evening, back at Sam's house, the two of them sat close together on the couch, cushions held to their stomachs as they watched Junior on DVD. Cam sat in an adjacent armchair, looking more and more spooked than amused as he was at first, at the entire situation. The southern Colonel remarked, scratching the back of his head as he glanced to his friends and back at the screen again,

"Man, this just seems like one bizarro daydream..."

As Sam looked at him oddly, Daniel retorted, eyebrows raised as he held his cushion tighter, "I'll zat you if you want."

Sam smirked as Cam, glaring at Daniel, replied, "_Pinching_, Jackson... And no thanks, I'll do it myself."

Sam, amused, remarked, "What, the zatting?" Glancing at Daniel, she continued, "I don't think we've ever seen that, have we? All those years of saving the galaxy."

Something shifted in Daniel's face as he realised just how much they were giving up, and he replied, shrouding his features with an impenetrable mask to cover his emotions, "That would be something."

As Sam glanced at Daniel in concern, having noticed the little change, Cam remarked, looking a little amused, "Wow... Now I'd have thought that you would have seen a dopey Goa'uld."

Sam and Daniel exchanged a little knowing look, and the latter replied, an innocent expression on his face, "We came across a few in our travels."

Sam murmured with a small smile as she looked back at the screen, the seriousness of the situation sinking in, "Apophis."

Just as Daniel noticed her change in demeanour, the doorbell rang, and Cam remarked as he got up, "Dang that cool Jaffa - he probably forgot a candle!"

Sam retorted with a smug smile as he walked behind them to the hallway, Daniel pausing the DVD, "Teal'c never forgets anything."

After Cam left, opening the front door, Daniel quickly asked as they both looked over the back of the couch, "Sam?"

Sam glanced down at her hands and nodded. She met his gaze, and he smiled slightly, silently promising her that they would talk later. Their gazes moved to the doorway on hearing a casually dressed Jack remark, trying not to show too much emotion,

"_Well_, this is nice."

Daniel said, he and Sam turning back to sit as Cam wandered into the kitchen, keeping within earshot as Jack sat down heavily in an armchair and regarded his friends with barely concealed amusement,

"Hi Jack."

Sam smiled briefly in greeting at Jack, who exhaled and remarked, sounding increasingly spooked as he gesticulated with his hands, "Imagine my surprise when I find out that my best buddy has been knocked up by my former second-in-command, who, an hour later, I learn is knocked up too... And you're keeping them! Hank is... well, you can imagine!"

Sam remarked with a small smile as Daniel squeezed her hand in reassurance, "All go round here, Sir."

Raising an eyebrow, Jack replied, "I'll say."

As Cam returned with coffee and juice, Daniel asked as he helped Sam get a glass, "What's going to happen?"

Jack, looking confused for a moment as he took a sip from his mug as Cam perched on the arm of the couch, replied, "Ah right... We're keeping Jackson Junior here a secret..."

He glanced at the still image of a pregnant Arnold Schwarzeneggar holding a phone on screen, and remarked, "I see you're getting into it."

Daniel shrugged, remarking, "Apparently it's not unprecedented after all... So..."

Jack looked at his friends for a moment before edging forwards on the armchair as he placed the mug down, and said, "Ah... well, only the President, Hank, Carolyn, SG-1 and me will know about this... Carter's pregnancy will be out in the open, of course. Carolyn suggested a cover story about a tumour because of all the crap that Hippo lady did to you and us not knowing what they fed you..."

Sam and Daniel simultaneously winced at the thought of perceiving a new life as something deadly and unwanted, as Cam looked increasingly concerned, the Astrophysicist saying, not looking happy at the idea, "Sir..."

Jack nodded slightly, already knowing that it wasn't particularly nice, and Daniel added, looking vulnerable as he took his glasses off to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Jack - it's a life growing inside of me - a human life."

Jack edged forward some more and patted Daniel's knee, replying softly as he looked at his best friend with overwhelming concern, not bothering to hide it in his eyes, "I know, buddy, I know..."

He continued after removing his hand, "... We'll all know the truth. It's just so the NID or the Trust... or any snakehead or albino-head for that matter don't get their scabby paws on you. We want you safe."

Sam, remembering every time that they had lost Daniel, looked at her friend, fighting the urge to cry or do something that could be construed as overly emotional in front of her former CO as she held his hand, and Cam asked, clearing his throat, "Hang on a sec, Sir... Won't they expect the tumour to be removed well within nine months?"

As the scientists looked concerned at this, Jack replied, "Covered that. You may notice that the wonderful Doctor Jackson isn't showing now, and won't be for at least a couple of months... And then, he'll be able to hide it under clothes. Carolyn said that he'll show noticeably during his second trimester, and we can play the tumour card then. For the moment, you two are recovering from your ordeals so no-one's going to see you running to the men's room during your all-day sickness..."

As Daniel looked down at his cushion, processing what he had heard, Sam remarked, "I take it you just had a meeting about this, Sir?"

Jack quipped, "Meeting, what meeting? We were down Hank's Poker shack and you two just happened to come up in conversation... Carolyn owes me fifty bucks by the way. Never play with a Jaffa though."

Daniel frowned and closed his eyes, remarking, sounding impatient, "Jack, one: General Landry doesn't have a Poker shack, and two: Doctor Lam doesn't like Poker."

Sam, silently wondering how Daniel would know such things, said to Jack, "Thanks Sir."

Jack replied, exhaling, "Least I can do for you two... after all these years of saving the galaxy's ass when she got a kicking, and saving Earth more times than I would like to think about, you deserve some leeway... and a rest."

As Sam coughed to conceal a smile, Daniel retorted, his eyebrows raised, "Rest? Jack, we're pregnant..."

"You don't have to say that twice."

Sam piped up, looking amused, "Actually Sir..." She glanced at an amused Daniel who then looked at Jack, and continued, "... we do... possibly more than twice in Daniel's case."

"Funny."


	16. Broaching the Topic

That night, Jack staying in a spare room, Sam and Daniel lay together in the dark on her bed, his arm around her as she rested a hand on his chest, his other hand holding it. They didn't say anything for a few moments as they processed the day's rip-roaring events.

She asked quietly, "Daniel?"

"Sam?"

She let out a slow breath and said, remembering a scene from Junior earlier, "If... you, you know..."

Her face heated up as she trailed off, and he, realising what she meant, replied, embarrassed too, "We... we won't be able to spoon any more..."

"Uh, we will... just the other way round..."

They paused, listening to the soothing sounds of each other's breathing, and he asked quietly, "What about you?"

She, very embarrassed by this point, replied, "I won't poke you in the back."

They both closed their eyes, their embarrassment growing, and inappropriate images involuntarily filtered through their consciousnesses. He cleared his throat, and said,

"I suppose... if it gets too bad, we could..."

Amused as well as embarrassed, she asked, "Take matters into our own hands?"

He snickered slightly and nodded, whispering, "God, this is so weird..."

"That's an understatement. Not only am I pregnant despite my injections, you're pregnant too... That still sounds weird."

"We're on SG-1..."

Exhaling as she remembered the many, many adventures that the team had had over the years, she replied, "Yeah."

She sighed, and he whispered, mindful of Jack and Cam's presences on the other side of the wall, "I suppose we could jump off that bridge when it comes to it."

She nodded, replying quietly, "Ok. It's going to be a while anyway... we're still in the sick stage."

He groaned, saying, "I can't wait for the cravings to come."

She smiled and replied as he squeezed her hand, "That's going to be fun."

He held her tighter with his right arm and said, "We'll get through this, Sam."

She nodded, replying quietly, "I know, Daniel."

She smiled slightly as she remembered something Cam had said, and she said, changing the subject, "I can't believe Cam and Vala are seeing each other."

He replied with a shrug, "Well, we're all on leave, so they've got a long time to sort themselves out. It's nice that Vala's getting some happiness... Mitchell too. It's taken a while but they've bonded well."

"Yeah. God, it makes me feel old... I see Cam like a little brother."

His brow furrowed, he asked, "What about me?"

A little embarrassed, she replied, glad of the darkness that was hiding her face, imagining how red it must appear, "You're my best friend, Daniel."

He gently caressed her hair, replying, "You're my best friend too."

Neither sure of what else to say, they lay together in silence, he, glad nonetheless that she didn't see him as a little brother, disappointed that he wasn't anything more than a best friend, but subsequently feeling selfish about it. She, not knowing this, felt exactly the same, although why, she wasn't sure, and she contemplated this in the silence, wondering what it could mean.


	17. An Officer and another One

One morning, Jack made his way, bleary-eyed, downstairs to find Cam in the kitchen, humming as he cooked breakfast. The General sat down as Cam said over his shoulder,

"'morning Sir."

"'morning Mitchell... what are you rustlin' up?"

"Some of my galaxy class omelette, Sir."

Jack raised his eyebrows, remarking, "Galaxy class, y'say... Does it have beer in it?"

Cam replied with a slight smile as he flipped out an omelette onto a plate, "No Sir. Egg whites, avocado and Norwegian cheese. I don't think beer's going to be a good thing what with two pregnant people in the house."

"True... Speaking of our pregnant scientists..."

"Sunshine's in the bathroom behind me being sick, and Sam's upstairs... being sick."

Jack said with a semi-shrouded distant expression, "Ah... I remember Sara's 'all-day sickness'."

With a curious expression, Cam said as he placed omelettes on plates, "Sir, Jackson mentioned your... uh, family but I get the feeling that it wasn't everything."

Jack, shrouding his facial expression further, almost an autonomic response for the General, and he cautiously replied as Cam set the plates down onto the table, "Whatever he's told you, is what happened."

Feeling awkward, Cam said as he forked his omelette, "Ah..."

An awkward silence descended on the two officers, neither sure of what to say. Taking a mouthful of his omelette, Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise, and when he swallowed, he said, a slight smile on his face,

"Mitchell, this is amazing... You've got to give me the recipe for this."

Smiling a smile of pride tinged with embarrassment, Cam replied, scratching the back of his neck, "Thanks Sir... I'll write it down before you go."

"Maybe make it a wedding present..."

Cam frowned in confusion, and asked, "Sir?"

Jack replied, gesticulating with his hand, "No... for Arnie and Pam Reed here."

Surprised, Cam asked, "You think they'll get hitched?"

Jack shrugged, inwardly feeling dead as he replied, "Sure, why not? They can't go through what they're going without something in their relationship changing... and they did do the wild thing."

Cam looked at him shrewdly for a moment before asking, "What about... that?"

Jack asked with a guarded expression, "What?"

Cam, feeling awkward again, said, gesticulating with his fork, "You know... _that_."

When Jack continued to look at him blankly, he sighed and said, rolling his eyes, "Come on Sir... you and my second-in-command."

Jack said nothing as he outwardly appeared to be forking the remains of his omelette, and as Cam was about to apologise, the General said, "I don't know," in a way that effectively discouraged further discussion on the Colonel's part with regard to what appeared to be a taboo subject, but was really something that he didn't want to think about right then. Changing the subject, Jack's expression shifted as he remarked after a beat,

"So... galaxy-class, eh?"

Cam was thrown for a moment at the sudden change of topic. Gathering his wits, he replied, smiling slightly,

"Yes Sir. I'm betting that the Ori are whipping a few of these up in Celestis..."

Jack looked confused, inwardly debating his successor-once-removed's sanity, and Cam, barely hiding his amusement as he sensed the internal debate, said, "I gave the recipe to this Prior we encountered when Ger'ak got _priorised_... He was all _repent or suffer_, and I gave him the recipe... Didn't give me a pie crust in return though."

Jack remarked, disbelieving, "Get out."

"No, really Sir. You can ask Jackson and General Landry."

Jack shook his head in disbelief, remarking, "You guys have all the fun... I always wanted to sing Ori to the Batman tune to those screwy albinos. Wow."

Cam was about to say something, when a weary looking Daniel emerged from the rear hallway, having been in the downstairs bathroom, and Jack remarked, noting the younger man's strained demeanour, "Daniel, you look tired."

Daniel, looking close to the end of his tether, sipped from a glass of water as he leant his lower back on the sink, and replied, "Tired doesn't even begin to describe it, Jack."

As Jack looked increasingly concerned, remembering Daniel's tendency to hide how he was feeling like the good little Spartan boy, and realising that he must be going through hell if he let on that he was in pain in the slightest, Cam asked,

"Jackson, you feel up to eating?"

Daniel shook his head wearily and replied, "No thanks... Where's Sam?"

Jack said, unable to hide his worry, "Throwing up, upstairs... You sure you don't want anything to eat? It's Mitchell's galaxy class omelette."

Daniel frowned, confused, and Cam replied in explanation, "The recipe I gave the Prior who choked General Landry."

As Jack looked thoughtful, Daniel nodded in acknowledgement and, as he washed the glass, he said, "I'll just check on Sam, and then I'm laying down."

Jack remarked, earning an amused look from Cam as Daniel walked past them into the lounge, "That's pregnancy for you, Dannyboy... you grew up so fast."

Cam cleared the table and remarked with a sigh, "I never thought my first SG-cooking spell would be like this."

Jack shrugged and said as he helped the Colonel, "Welcome to SG-1, Mitchell. Your life will never be the same again."

"Oh, don't I know it. Already, I've encountered fake gods, alternate universes, ship battles, drugs, losing Jackson, almost losing Sam... watching T go nuts, stopping McKay from going after Sam, getting a degenerative disease, losing a ship, losing two ship commanders..."

Jack remarked, not totally surprised at the action that Cam had seen, "I take that welcome back... you never saw Ne'tu."

"Aw, come on Sir..."

"No, no, you're only on SG-1 if you see that place."

Cam glared at the General in disbelief, saying, "Sir... Ne'tu was destroyed."

"Well, there you go."

Cam, suddenly amused, remarked as he realised something, "Hard to let go of your team, isn't it?"

"Damn straight, Mitchell... I've got plans for my team. After those babies are born, and when you've whupped the Ori, we're gonna travel around in our intergalactic mystery ship and solve mysteries."

Cam chuckled quietly, asking, "Who would you be?"

Jack replied as he put the clean plates away, "Ah... Fred."

"How come?"

Jack remarked, resulting in one laughing Colonel, "Are you kidding me, he's the big leader guy who wants the action but doesn't always get it. Daphne's shallow and fashion obsessed, Velma's a geek, Shaggy's a drug addict with the munchies, Scooby's a coward... Scrappy's looking for a big spanking, and that Flim Flam kid they had in the Eighties just wants a good grounding."

"I thought Generals didn't watch cartoons."

"Now, now Mitchell - didn't your mother tell you that it's rude to stereotype?!"


	18. Icky

Upstairs, Daniel found Sam lying on the bed, her head under a pillow. He lay down next to her and held her asking,

"Sam, how bad was it?"

She groaned as she clutched the pillow to her stomach, and replied, gazing at him in concern, "Bad -- you?"

"The same."

She remarked, tired, "I don't know how women do this... I really don't."

He retorted with a small smile, "My sentiments exactly."

Despite his own discomfort, he ran his fingers through her hair in a comforting gesture, and asked, "Do you want something to eat? Mitchell's whipped up some of that omelette he mentioned off-world."

Amused at the memory, she shook her head and replied, groaning in discomfort before closing her eyes as she savoured his touch, "No... I don't feel like it. Have you eaten anything?"

He shook his head and replied, his smile returning, "Nope. I feel icky."

She exclaimed, laughing, "Icky?!"

He held her tighter, mindful of her bruises, and remarked, feigning innocence, "Well, you think of something then."

She poked her tongue out in a childish gesture, retorting as he looked increasingly amused, "Hey, I'm not the Philologist."

He remarked, looking at her meaningfully, "Well, you're an Astrophysicist who can perform surgery, write software, mess with alien technologies... and knock up your best friend, so why not?"

Instead of laughing, she frowned slightly, lowering her gaze as she said with a sigh, her hand idly moving up his waist, "God, we've got so much to come... Cramps, more vomiting, tiredness, mood swings, swollen ankles, cravings..."

Realising that she was almost panicking again, feeling out of her depth, he tenderly kissed her cheek, adding with a small smile, his cheeks going red, "Tingly boobs."

This had the intended outcome of making her laugh, the sound reverberating in his chest due to his close proximity to her, and she remarked, making him red further, "Ah, you're just jealous because you're not going to lactate... or at least we don't think so..."

He retorted with a pout, looking down at his chest, "I like my boobs as they are."

She closed her eyes as she chuckled softly, and she said, meeting his gaze, "You're still going to tingle."

He replied with a sheepish smile, "I tingle already... what about you?"

She playfully hit him, remarking in disbelief, "What happened to you being a gentleman!?"

She smiled as he grew embarrassed, and then she became serious, saying before she could stop herself, "Ok... I suppose Sha're was one very lucky woman and..."

She clammed up, realising that she was very close to crossing a line that she wasn't sure that she wanted to cross, and her gaze fell once more. His heart doing a little flip, he asked, cautiously optimistic,

"Sam... are you saying what I think you're saying?"

She, neither willing or feeling ready to cross that line, met his gaze and replied quickly, "That we need food?"

Before he, confused, could reply, she quickly got up, or as quick as her bruising would allow, and almost ran from the room, leaving behind one very confused albeit frowning Archaeologist, who wondered whether whatever Sam had was contagious.

He lay back down, clutching a pillow tightly as he thought back to when he first knew out and out that he was in love with his best friend, who was apparently, give or take a few definitions of the term, in love with his other best friend, although despite three years having passed since his return from being ascended, nothing had been said or done about the one thing that the classic line-up of SG-1 knew not to talk about. It was as though the team as a whole had taken on Jack's attitude of not talking about something in the hope that it would simply go away, or that they would never have to deal with it.


	19. Nightmare

The sun reaching its zenith as Daniel sat on the front porch, a blanket draped over his lower half as he sat in a chair, Vala near him, Sam continued to avoid him, worried about that line but increasingly upset on noting how close Daniel and Vala were. As Cam finally introduced Teal'c to Socom 3 on his Playstation that he had fetched from his apartment earlier in the day, Jack wandered into the kitchen to find Sam clutching the edge of the sink, her head bowed as she quietly wept.

Putting it down to the hormones raging through her bloodstream, he silently turned her around and pulled her into a hug, the Astrophysicist not objecting in the slightest. He gently rubbed her back as he said, his chin rested on her head,

"You're a strong woman, Carter - you'll get through this. I've seen you get through things that those cocky assed Marines would pale at."

She didn't say anything, feeling embarrassed at her feelings and for once, glad of Jack's downright obliviousness when it came to things of an emotional nature.

Outside, Vala, noting how tired Daniel looked, sat across his lap and asked, smoothing the tired skin under his left eye, "How are you feeling?"

He sighed, replying as he gazed at her, "Strangely enough, like I've been zatted, beaten and had a round with a ribbon device."

She remarked, knowing exactly what he meant, "That _is_ bad... and you've got a lot worse to come... All that weight, swollen ankles, mood swings... more weight..."

"Ok."

"... and then there's the birth! Oh, there's the stretching and blood and..."

Wincing at the imagery that was evoked, he said quickly, frowning, "Yes, thank you! Got that."

She replied with a smug smile, "Much obliged, dear."

He sighed and said, looking at her, "Why don't you and Mitchell go out for the night? You two deserve a life instead of looking after emotional scientists."

She shook her head and replied, "He's taking care of you and Samantha..."

"We've got Jack and Teal'c - we'll be fine. Go have a life."

"But Daniel, since we have this whole team mentality... thing, we can't leave you."

He said, tucking a stray tendril of dark hair behind an ear, "Sure you can. Seriously, go out and let Mitchell show you more of Earth culture."

Intrigued at the thought of experiencing more of Earth in a hands-on manner as opposed to solely via the medium of television, she replied, looking thoughtful, "I'll... have words with him."

He smiled before stifling a yawn, feeling very tired, and she smiled too, hopping off his lap as she said, "I think I'll do it now... you need to rest - it's fairly ambient out here."

Resting his head against the back of the chair, he replied, his eyes sliding shut, "Thanks... good luck."

She gently kissed him on the cheek, pulling up the blanket to cover his chest, and after gazing at the resting Archaeologist, she bounded indoors, smiling.

His eyes sealed in sweet sleep shortly afterwards, but it was soon to prove to be far from sweet as he vividly relived his and Sam's ordeals, Hippolyta beating him and Sam... Sam crying as he touched her... everyone watching. Suddenly, Hippolyta morphed into Hathor who said, fire blazing around her as she seductively advanced on him while he found himself, much to his utter horror, unable to move,

_"Come beloved, let us create a new generation of Pharaohs together._.."

He woke up with a shout, screaming hoarsely as his alarmed friends came running out onto the porch. Jack, wincing at the pain in his knees, knelt by his chair and pulled Daniel into as tight a hug as the Archaeologist could tolerate taking into account his bruising, and he asked,

"Daniel?"

Daniel, clinging onto his friend as though he was a lifeline, replied in a whisper into the crook of his neck, "God Jack, Hathor."

Jack quietly swore as he remembered that red-headed temptress, one more alien woman who had caused the Archaeologist so much pain, guilt and despair, and he said, his voice gruff with barely concealed emotion, "Daniel, she's gone. The wicked witch is dead. It was just a nightmare. We're all here and we're not going to let anything happen to you, ok?"

Sam, tears in her eyes, knelt on the other side of the chair and held Daniel's hand as the General slowly eased the younger man back into the chair. Daniel whispered, overcome with guilt once more, his eyes still closed,

"I'm so sorry Sam."

"Don't be. I told you that it wasn't your fault."

Jack, smiling despite his worry, ruffled Daniel's hair, remarking, "Our little man had a nightmare."

Daniel scowled but said nothing, and Sam walked indoors to get a chair, Cam trailing her and protesting when she lifted said item of furniture. Amused as she walked back out to the porch, she remarked,

"Cam... one: I'm not showing, and two: it's just a chair."

She placed the chair next to Daniel's, sitting down, and she held one of his hands to her chest, leaning her head on his shoulder as he opened his eyes in surprise. Teal'c, smiling slightly, walked indoors, followed by Vala, who so desperately wanted to say something rude but was worried about the nature of Daniel's nightmare.

Jack remarked, his eyebrows raised, "That's one lucky hand, Daniel."

Daniel rolled his eyes and stared at him in disbelief as Sam retorted, her eyes hard as she glared at Jack, "With all due respect Sir - piss off."

Jack raised his eyebrows a few times before returning indoors, and Cam said, smiling and yet concerned, "You guys need anything, just shout, ok?"

Sam replied, her eyes closed, "You'll hear us if we need anything."

When Cam had gone in, Daniel whispered, "Thanks Sam."

Sam replied, squeezing the hand that she held tighter as she glanced at him, smiling softly, "Let's go beat Hathor up."

He retorted, glad that she wasn't awkward around him any more, "I don't know... Jack was the one who killed her."

"Would you rather sleep like this with the General?!"

He bit back an inappropriate remark as he relaxed once more, and she, looking strained at first, closed her eyes and eventually joined him in the quest for sleep in all its sweetness, smiling slightly at their mutual merging of personal space.


	20. Flatulence for Sport

Sitting together on the back deck one day after Jack had left once again for D.C, Cam periodically peeking out of the window, Sam and Daniel talked about their ordeal, feeling that despite the nightmares fading a little, they needed to get some things out into the open, although not _everything_. She looked out across the yard with a sigh and said quietly,

"I'm sorry Daniel."

Taken aback by the apology, he abruptly looked at her, asking, "Why? It wasn't your fault... if anything it was mine for not stopping it somehow."

Frowning in disbelief, she said, "Daniel, no - you couldn't have done anything. Men weren't allowed to speak there... we were lucky that they tolerated you, Cam and Teal'c speaking."

She sighed again and looked down at her lap, continuing quietly, "I defended you when that... that randy Amazon touched your thigh. That started it all off."

"But Sam, if I hadn't convinced Mitchell to agree to give our weapons up..."

She rolled her eyes and said, "Come on Daniel - there would have been a bloodbath... who knows what would have happened? We would have been killed, or injured more than we already are."

He asked quietly, his head bowed as he looked across at her, concerned, "How's the bruising?"

His long fingers reached for her cheek as she turned to look at him, inwardly feeling as though she was melting into the decking beneath them. Troubled blue met confused blue, and she eventually realised that he was waiting for her to speak. She swallowed and replied as his fingers tenderly traced the area where she had been clubbed on her jaw,

"It's getting better but it still hurts like hell..."

Her voice failing her, she continued, almost in a whisper, "What about you?"

He had had years of practice with to the concealment of his feelings when it came to a certain Astrophysicist, so while his insides were turning into mush, he replied quietly, mesmerised nonetheless by the depths of blue-grey that stared back at him, reaching into his soul, challenging him as they had done ever since that day a decade previously when they had first laid eyes on each other,

"It still hurts but I'm trying to lay off the morphine... it does weird things to me."

Her gaze fell to her lap as he slowly moved his hand away and, the spell broken, she remarked with a brief chuckle, "Tell me about it. We're lucky we haven't been singing folk songs at the tops of our voices."

He smiled, closed his eyes and remarked as he shrugged slowly, his glasses lowering slightly, "I might have been."

The tension that had been there a moment ago dissolved as she laughed, retorting as she looked at him in disbelief, "Now that would be a funny sight."

Looking at her in bewilderment, he asked, "Why?!"

She replied with a shrug, smiling slightly as she looked out across the yard and then back at him once more, "Because you're so refined, Daniel... It's like the farting contests the General boasted about. I can imagine him doing that... I can imagine Teal'c doing that if the General had managed to convince him that it was integral to Tau'ri culture, but you? Nope. No matter what the General did or said to try to convince you, you would do what you thought was right."

Very amused, his cheeks tinging a rosy shade of red, he asked, his gaze moving towards the yard, not trusting what she might be able to see in his eyes, "And that means no flatulence for sport?"

She chuckled softly as her gaze fell to her lap, and she remarked, "See, the fact that you called it _flatulence_..."

She exhaled and continued, bemused, "How the hell did we end up talking about farting?!"

He, smiling, retorted, "You started it."

Not taking the bait, she replied with a smug smile, "I suppose I did..."

He gazed at her, remembering their discussion earlier, and he said softly, his hand coverings hers, "Thank you."

She met his gaze in confusion and asked, hoping that it wasn't flatulence related, "What for?!"

Smiling as he somehow realised what she was thinking, he shook his head slightly before sobering up and saying, "For defending me on that planet. You didn't have to and..."

Her expression softening into one of sadness, her gaze once more dropped to her lap as tears welled in her eyes, and she said in a whisper, "Fat lot of good it did, Daniel. If I hadn't defended you..."

He sighed and said, his heart heavy, "Sam, they would have done it anyway, hence us having to surrender our weapons."

She shook her head and replied, looking down at his hand as it once more rested on hers in a soothing gesture, "No. We would have been able to get out of it somehow if I hadn't intervened. By defending you like that, I angered them and they threw us into that... that ritual and..."

She released a shuddering breath, willing herself not to cry, and he, sensing her inner turmoil, silently pulled her into his embrace, whispering as he wrapped his arms around her, closing his eyes, "It's ok Sam... it really is. We've come so far already."

She sniffed, whispering back, "We have... God knows, if you had been someone else, if we hadn't been very good friends, this would have been so much different... we would be avoiding each other, unable to stand the sight of the other. We'd have some serious issues, or rather more issues than we already have."

He held her tighter, replying softly as he rested his cheek against her hair, "We've come through the worst of the psychological stuff already, Sam... We took a huge step when we started sleeping together."

He blushed, glad that she couldn't see his face, and she remarked against his shoulder, suddenly feeling awkward, "That is huge."


	21. Names

With Cam, Teal'c and Vala in the observation room overlooking the Infirmary, Sam and Daniel lay in parallel beds, Ultrasound machines connected to their swollen abdomens. After Brightman and Lam had checked the images to ensure that the unborn children were healthy, the two scientists were left alone for a few moments with the images.

As Daniel gazed at the image of his Junior, Sam, gazing at hers, remarked with a teary smile, "They're our babies..."

He replied, mesmerised by the image of the life within him, "And we'll love them..."

Fighting the urge to smooth her sticky stomach, she said, "I love mine already."

"Me too."

As she gazed across at his screen to see the other baby, she gasped, whispering, "Oh wow."

He finally managed to tear his eyes away from the image of his Junior, and gasped in amazement on seeing the image of Sam's baby. He smiled, his eyes involuntarily glittering with tears as he said in a quiet voice,

"Oh my... she's beautiful..."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, asking, "How do you know?"

He exhaled as he focussed on the ceiling for a moment, clearing his throat, and remarked quietly, reddening ever so slightly, "Um... my Junior's got a rather prominent..."

He trailed off in embarrassment, and she closed her eyes as she laughed softly, saying as she reached for his hand, holding it in hers, "Oh, we're going to be fine, aren't we Daniel?"

He nodded as he met her gaze once more, replying as he tried not to think about how they were going to organise their lives in the future once the babies were born, "Of course we are... Have you thought of any names?"

She replied with a distant expression, "I was thinking Janet..."

"Cassie might want to use it..."

She frowned slightly, saying, "There's nothing wrong with having two Janets."

He nodded in understanding and said with a sigh, "I miss her too Sam... I was just being polite though. You might want to use my surname for our little girl, and as it's rather unfortunate..."

She chuckled, remarking as she grinned at him, "Just as well that you didn't go from Jermaine to Janet."

He replied, smiling slightly, "That's Jack's job and I'm sure he'll fulfil it."

"Oh yes."

"So... what other names have you thought of?"

She sighed, replying, "Hmm, I've been thinking of my mother too. Grace."

"Grace Carter-Jackson has a nice ring to it."

Her smile faded as she realised once again how weird the whole situation was, and how out of depth she felt. He squeezed her hand, reassuring her of his presence as he said quietly, gazing at her,

"Sam, you're not alone."

She pressed her lips together in a vain attempt to prevent herself from crying, and she said hoarsely, "It's just so weird, Daniel... _you're_ pregnant, I'm pregnant... we don't even know how we're going to deal with this as well as all those... There are so many things we haven't thought of. God..."

Her other hand quickly wiped away her tears, and he remarked, holding it together for her sake, "We're on SG-1 - we do weird all the time..."

He continued with a small nostalgic smile, "Cloning, body swapping, time travelling, seeing giant aliens, jumping out of planes, experiencing a non-salient Jack, attempting to fix a damaged sun, stopping an asteroid from hitting Earth, experiencing alternate universes, finding Atlantis..."

He added with a chuckle, "Going to hell..."

She smiled as she was reminded of their adventures over the years, but that last comment made her laugh, which in turn made him smile more to see her happy again, and made their friends look hopeful. She sighed, the smile remaining, and asked,

"So... what about your Junior? What are you naming him?"

He shrugged, remarking as he feigned innocence, "Well... I was thinking James, but _Michael_ sounds good... or taking into account his mother... or rather _father_, Howard."

Staring at him in bemusement, she said, "Howard?"

He nodded, still looking innocent, and replied, "Yes, Howard..."

She frowned slightly, remembering something and her face lit up on remembering the DHD that had been missing from the dig at Giza. She remarked, an eyebrow raised,

"Daniel, you're not naming my son after an Archaeologist who botched up Tutankhamun's tomb."

Smiling slightly as he wondered how she knew, he replied, his eyes closed, "Well... it's better than Stephen, Albert, Pierre, Max..."

She gasped in disbelief and promptly threw a pillow at him as their friends laughed behind the observation window.


	22. Kickings

One afternoon, Sam and Daniel returned from maternity clothes shopping with Cam in tow, and quickly sat on the couch to prevent their ankles from swelling. The southern Colonel, tidying the bags in the hallway, remarked as he went into the kitchen to get them something to drink,

"You know, we could have done this all on the Internet."

Sam, cushioning her back with couch cushions like Daniel was doing, replied, smiling as she smoothed her swollen abdomen with her other hand, "Not making our Juniors lazy-bones."

Daniel squeezed her hand as Cam retorted, poking his head out of the kitchen, "Sam, you've got to be kidding me. Those two are not gonna be lazy, especially if you two are anything to go by."

The two scientists exchanged a glance, Daniel remarking, "Come on Mitchell, the fact that we _know_ Jack is enough to get these two drinking beer in front of a game of hockey before they're out of diapers."

Sam chuckled softly as Cam returned, handing them glasses of juice, and he remarked, "Aw come on, they'll be doing that along with fifth grade work, as well as temping for the SGC."

Sam, raising an eyebrow, asked, "In their diapers?!"

Daniel smiled slightly as Cam mock-glared at her, remarking, "_Samantha_, I was going to say something crude about them being in their seventies, but come on, you've got to admit that these two are going to have way, way above average IQs. I can just see it now..."

He added with a grin as he perched on the arm of the couch, "Oh, my surrogate niece and nephew... I can't wait... Anyway, you two rest a little. You up for takeout? I'll just phone T and Vala..."

With twin mischievously innocent smiles on their faces, the scientists replied in unison, "Sure."

Cam just shook his head slightly as he got up, barely hiding his smile as he thought of how well the two of them fitted together but either wouldn't or couldn't do anything about it. When he had left to go to the kitchen with the phone, Sam snickered as Daniel smirked, the latter remarking,

"Oh, I think we've finally christened him as SG-1 leader by spooking him out with our little mind-reading thing."

She grinned at him, replying, "Oh yeah..."

Her grin faded into a distant smile, and she said, glancing at him, "We were finishing each other's thoughts when we first met."

His expression matched hers as he remembered the decade that had passed, and he nodded, saying quietly, a wistful smile emerging, "It feels like a lifetime ago... we've had rollercoaster after rollercoaster since then."

She placed a hand over his as she realised who he was thinking about, and she was about to say something when she paused, closing her eyes. Noticing this, he held the hand that was over his and asked, an urgent tone in his voice as he edged closer to her,

"Sam?"

She exhaled slowly and met his gaze, a smile of surprise on her face, and his eyes widened in surprise when he realised what had happened. He caressed her hair which she had allowed to grow out over the past few months, and he smiled as she said,

"Your Junior's sister just kicked."

"Ya, I got that."

A little impatient as he proceeded to continue playing with her hair, she resisted the urge to roll her eyes, grabbing his hand and placing it on her abdomen. He frowned slightly and then his gaze softened as they both felt what she had felt earlier. Their eyes moistening with tears, he pulled her into a loose hug over their bumps, and whispered against her hair,

"That's our little girl."

She nodded, whispering back, "She's a little life."

Cam cautiously poked his head out of the kitchen, having just called Teal'c, and his eyes widened slightly on seeing them hugging emotionally. Debating whether to leave them to it or ask if they were alright, he looked at them for a moment before his concern for their welfare tipped the balance. He asked softly so as not to startle them,

"You guys ok?"

Daniel slowly released her, and he and Sam turned to face Cam, the latter saying, almost crying but smiling nonetheless, "Your niece just kicked."

Cam, surprised but disappointed on one level that it hadn't been what he had been expecting, he said, grinning as he knelt in front of her, "Aw man, that is so cool."

Sam, smiling, guided the Colonel's hand across her bump, and after a beat he exclaimed, quickly moving his hand away as he looked spooked, "Ah, that's freaky."

Neither of them noticed Daniel's face shift slightly, but then their attention was drawn to him when they heard his sharp intake of breath. Cam asked as Sam looked increasingly scared,

"Jackson?"

In reply, Daniel reached for Sam's hand, placing it on his abdomen, and a moment later, she covered her mouth with her other hand, whispering, overcome with emotion once again, "Oh my God..."

Cam remarked, grinning as he inwardly debated whether he could take feeling an unborn baby kick again, "Oh yeah, Jackson Junior's making himself felt in the world."

He looked at his friends and said, "Right you two, go to bed for a couple of hours... Teal'c and Vala are coming round, and you're going to be falling asleep during some awesome Schezuan with the Juniors giving you a good kicking..."

Sam and Daniel exchanged a little look, the latter remarking, "Mitchell, there are other international cuisines."

Cam rolled his eyes and retorted, half-glaring at him as Sam raised a challenging eyebrow at the Colonel, "Jackson. You only eat chocolate cake anyway."


	23. Science Twins

Sam and Daniel lay in bed under 'bed arrest' by their commanding officer, so they talked as they idly smoothed their swollen abdomens, their unborn children reminding them of their presence periodically. He reached over to play with her hair again, and she closed her eyes briefly before asking, curious,

"Daniel, what is it?"

He murmured, distracted by her hair, "I've never seen your hair this long before..."

She smiled as she watched him in his distraction, admiring how much of a passionate man he was, how he put his all in everything he did, the way his long and slender fingers tenderly smoothed long strands of her hair. She idly wondered how those same fingers would feel, caressing her body, tapping out beautiful rhythms on her skin.

Her thoughts scared her. That she would be thinking such things about her best friend who she had forced herself to think as such since he had come back to Earth from Abydos a decade previously, was very scary indeed.

To off-set her fear, she remarked with a chuckle, tentatively reaching over to run her fingers through his hair, "Cam's adamant that you don't grow your hair out, although quite why... we'll never know."

Smiling slightly at the feel of her fingers running through his soft hair, he replied, planting a kiss on her forehead, "He's a military man. I'm not taking the bait for a gay joke."

She said as her fingers worked their way down the back of his head to his neck, and she retorted as he flinched slightly, his eyes closed, "Well, I think Vala would be rather miffed if you turned out to be gay."

He opened his eyes, confused, and asked, "Why? She's with Mitchell now."

"Aren't you upset about it?"

Looking around her for a moment, he looked back at her and asked, confused further, "Why would I be?"

She saw the genuine confusion in his eyes, and this confused her. She frowned and remarked,

"Daniel, come on, I'm your best friend - you don't have to lie to me. I'd have to be blind to not notice the way she looks at you... as well as how most of the mountain looks at you."

He blushed in embarrassment and replied, "Sam, I don't know about that, although I do know that Vala does have feelings for me..."

Frowning once again, she asked, "What about you?"

He shrugged and replied casually, hoping that his eyes wouldn't give it away, "She's a friend, a very good friend but that's it."

Taking a leaf out of Jack's book, she managed to look only mildly surprised at this, before she said, "There's someone else, isn't there?"

Scared at how close she was getting to how he really felt, he put up an emotional wall, hoping that that would put her off. She noticed him suddenly look distant and her gaze fell. She whispered as she played with the hem of his t-shirt, guessing why he had suddenly looked distant,

"I'm sorry."

Snapping out of his emotionless trance, he asked, touching her jaw, "What? Why?"

She swallowed and replied, meeting his gaze, "That I reminded you of Sha're by suggesting that there was anyone else."

He whispered, his secret fighting for space on his tongue, "Sam..."

He sighed, and continued, not wanting to give her another burden, chiefly that of his love which he believed would be unrequited, "It's been seven years since I lost Sha're. I still miss her but I know she's better off where she is now, free."

His eyes glistened with tears as he remembered searching for Sha're, finding her pregnant with Apophis' child no less, and then finally losing her at Teal'c's hand when the Jaffa had saved his life.

Touched by his pain and grief, she wrapped her arms around him and remarked in a whisper as he rested his face in the crook of her neck, "Oh, Sha're was one lucky woman to have had you. I'd give anything for a guy with such dedication, such passion... and..."

She held him tighter as he, shocked, realised what she was saying, and she continued, "At least you've known love and happiness though. All the men I have ever cared about, with one exception, have died although Pete did get shot... Jonas, Martouf, Lantash, Narim, Orlin, Joe, you, the General, Dad..."

His heart sank when she mentioned Jack, and he whispered back, "All the women I cared about either died, became hosts or were hosts at one point to a Goa'uld... Mom, Sha're, you, Sarah, Catherine, Vala..."

She remarked with a wistful expression, gently kissing his cheek, "Oh, we make a right pair, don't we? Your women either die or get Goa'ulded and my men get killed... or shot."

She sighed, and he said quietly as he hugged her back, "They don't call us the Science Twins for nothing... twins in more senses than one..."


	24. Outburst

Later that evening, SG-1 sat around the kitchen table with various items of takeout and confectionary, laughing and talking while they ate. Cam, reddening as he laughed, said as he forked his Dim Sum,

"... she held up this big thing the size of three standard issue tents and said, 'honey, we could hide my house in this'..."

Sam frowned slightly in confusion as she ate some pecan pie, glancing at Daniel, who shrugged, raising his eyebrows briefly as he tucked into his chocolate cake. She closed her eyes briefly as Teal'c looked unreadable, Vala looking as though she had worked something out, and the Astrophysicist replied,

"Cam..."

Vala jumped in before she could finish, saying excitedly as Teal'c raised an eyebrow, Cam looking intrigued, "I've got it! Ha, finally... I mean with my reputation seeing as I'm not Earth-born..."

She continued with a mischievous smile as she looked from Sam to Daniel, and back to Daniel, "... you could cover your house, and then jump around naked inside and no-one would see."

Teal'c's eyebrow shot up at the concept as Cam covered his face with his hand, embarrassed as he laughed, Sam and Daniel both incredibly embarrassed. Vala, a touch confused, looked around at her friends and asked as she licked the spoon that she had been eating soup with,

"What? I didn't get it?"

Teal'c replied as Cam glared at her, "You did not receive anything, ValaMalDoran."

Cam snorted with laughter involuntarily, resulting in Sam looking at him with an odd expression as Daniel reddened further, his head bowed in apprehension of anything else that their friends could come up with. He wasn't disappointed in that respect.

Vala, curious at Cam's demeanour, asked him, "Cameron?"

He shook his head and replied, going very red, "I was just thinking that those two are supposed to be resting..."

Daniel glared at him, remarking as he glanced at an apprehensive Sam, " i Those two /i are right here."

Vala, still looking at Cam, waved at Daniel dismissively, saying quietly, "Daniel, let the man finish."

She looked at Cam meaningfully, and he shook his head, overcome by silent laughter. Teal'c's eyebrow went ever higher as he realised why Cam was laughing, a certain topic having been mentioned by the Colonel previously, and he said,

"ColonelMitchell is worried as to the sleeping patterns of miniature DanielJackson due to his sharing a bed with ColonelCarter..."

Vala, surprised at Teal'c's candidness, just looked at the Jaffa as Cam kept his head rested on his folded arms, still laughing. Daniel reddened even further and he lowered his head in embarrassment. Sam, growing angry as well as embarrassed, said,

"Why can't friends share a bed without people, who are supposed to be their friends, making jokes about them?!"

Her friends, including Daniel, looked at her in surprise at the outburst, and she asked the Archaeologist, placing a hand on his arm, "Daniel? Are you ok?"

Daniel nodded, and Cam, looking a tad sheepish, apologised, saying, "Sam... we were just messing about and... we're sorry."

Teal'c, raising an eyebrow at Cam, said, "I have nothing to apologise for, ColonelCarter. I was merely reporting a previous conversational topic."

Cam looked at him, barely hiding his amusement, and Vala added with a shrug, "Well, I'm sorry, because it appears that my misunderstanding of an Earth joke resulted in Cameron laughing, and Teal'c remembering something."

No-one said anything for a long moment before Sam said with a sigh, her gaze dropping to the table, "Guys, I'm sorry... it's the hormones."

Both Vala and Daniel placed comforting hands on her arms, before the conversation level eventually returned, gradually picking up pace and returning to its previous level as both Sam and Daniel mulled over what had been said.


	25. Baby Shower

On base, Sam walked into her lab, just about ready to sit down due to her ankles swelling up, when she nearly leapt back in surprise on seeing her friends, Cassie, and a very familiar looking albeit belligerent looking young man, shouting,

"Baby shower!"

Stunned, she just stood there, and Cam nudged Teal'c, who nodded slightly, picking Sam up and sitting her on her lab table. She hugged him in thanks, and asked, looking around herself, still stunned,

"What...?"

The young man remarked, eyebrows raised, "Come on Carter - I think the words 'baby shower' were pretty much self-explanatory."

Cassie hugged her, whispering her congratulations as Sam hugged her back before asking, confused as she looked at the young man, "Sir?"

He - mini-Jack to be precise - replied, "Who else? Oh, and I'm not your Commanding Officer any more... well, ok, I wasn't anyway..."

Needing a mind reader as she was finding it increasingly difficult to string sentences together, she, still holding Cassie, looked round at her friends until she saw Daniel casually resting against a filing cabinet, and he said, knowing what she wanted to ask,

"Jack thought it was weird keeping in touch with him but I couldn't not do that. It's Jack after all."

She smiled at him before looking back at mini-Jack, taking in the many things that had changed since she had last seen him - chiefly, his height, his current lack of acne, and his muscular distribution.

"Wow, it's good to see you again Si... uh, Jack."

"It's good to be back round this neck of the woods, Carter."

Smiling slightly, she looked down at the young woman in her arms and said, "I can't believe you're here either, Cassie."

Cassie replied as she straightened up, "Are you kidding me, I wouldn't miss this for the world. I can't believe you didn't tell me anything! I found out through Teal'c!"

Vala remarked with a shrug, "Well, it would have been weird for me to ring you, young lady, seeing as we have never met."

Cam said, glancing at a proud looking Teal'c, "Someone's a secret teddybear."

Cassie said, glancing over at Daniel, "Ok, I know that you're eating for two now because of that thing off-world, but how come _you've_ put on weight?!"

Sam looked back at a carefully composed Daniel, who remarked, "I couldn't have Sam eating alone."

Teal'c's eyebrow fought with Teal'c's Jaffa training to rise, but the training won out, the eyebrow staying down, the Jaffa promising himself that he would work out his incredulity at Daniel's statement in the gym. Vala suddenly found her feet interesting, and Cam cleared his throat. Mini-Jack remarked, looking at Daniel,

"Daniel? I think you have some explaining to do..."

Sam and Daniel exchanged a glance, the Archaeologist then looking at Teal'c, who leant forward to whisper in mini-Jack's ear. A few moments later, Teal'c straightened up once more, and mini-Jack blinked slowly, taking the revelation in. He looked back at the Jaffa and said, the slow movement of his eyebrows alone showing his growing surprise,

"Really?"

Teal'c replied, his eyebrow winning ever so slightly, "I would not lie to you, O'Neill the Younger."

Daniel smiled slightly on being reminded of the two Plinies, and mini-Jack exhaled, looking ever so slightly spooked as he looked across at Daniel with new eyes. Cassie, rather indignant that mini-Jack had been told, almost stamped her foot as she said,

"He knows!"

Sam replied, attempting to placate her, "It's because he would have a better time getting to grips with it."

Mini-Jack tapped Cassie on the arm as he said, "Cass, they're sensitive about it. You see, Mitchell and him are a couple, and Daniel has to store up a lot of carbohydrates for all the rect..."

Daniel and Cam promptly reddened, and Sam covered her face with her hand in embarrassment as Teal'c's eyebrow shot up. Vala stared in amusement at the younger man, liking him even more than she already had, and Cassie looked from Cam to Daniel in shock, and admittedly disappointment. She asked,

"Is it true?"

Mini-Jack looked at them meaningfully, so, deciding to play long, Cam put an arm around Daniel, the Colonel smiling as Daniel raised his eyebrows briefly, eventually relaxing into Cam's hold. Teal'c in particular couldn't help but smirk on seeing Cassie look increasingly flabbergasted.


	26. Cassie

Bringing Cassie to Sam's house with them, Sam and Daniel led her into the lounge, and she was perplexed to see the Archaeologist mirror Sam's actions as he cushioned his back when he sat sat down. As SG-1 and mini-Jack gathered around them, perching on either the couch or on the adjacent armchairs, Daniel patted the space in between him and Sam in an invitation for the Hankan to sit, so she did, looking at him curiously.

Sam gently touched her hand, getting her attention, and Cassie asked, horrified, "Sam, it's not Cancer... is it?"

Sam shook her head and replied with a slight smile, "It isn't - I promise you... Daniel's pregnant."

Cassie blinked, and remarked, "Sam, this isn't really a good time to play jokes."

Daniel touched her hand, saying as she looked at him, "No, really. I am pregnant... I'm carrying a little boy."

Cassie blinked once more before she said, increasingly looking spooked as she noticed how similar Sam and Daniel's swollen abdomens were, in size, position and appearance, "That's impossible. You're a man... you don't have ovaries, a womb... It's impossible."

"We work for the SGC - impossibility is impossible - you know that."

"But how?"

Cam gently replied from the arm of the couch, trying hard not to think about the mission that had started it all, "They were forced to drink some moonshine..."

Cassie, confused, said, looking back at Cam, "Moonshine?"

Sam smiled slightly as mini-Jack piped up, "Ah, that would be illegally distilled whiskey from corn mash."

Daniel and Cam looked at the younger man, the Colonel asking in surprise, "Jack? How did you know that?"

Mini-Jack shrugged, replying, "You're forgetting that my grandfather - or rather grump-ass' grandfather - was from northern Minnesota."

Cam smiled slightly before his attention was brought back to Cassie, who looked at Daniel's bump, and asked, tentatively reaching out a hand to touch it, "This is incredible then, that a substance enabled you to conceive... carry a child. Wow."

Sam smiled slightly, remarking, "Incredible doesn't cover it."

Daniel, noticing the younger woman's fear at touching him, gently said, "Go ahead - it won't bite."

Cassie placed her hand over Daniel's abdomen at the same time that Jackson Junior decided to remind everyone of his presence. She shrieked in surprise, her hand recoiling quickly as though she had touched a hot coal as everyone else looked amused. Sam held Cassie's other hand, saying,

"Cassie, it's ok... it's just the baby kicking."

Scared, Cassie turned to face Sam, saying, "He's got a baby inside of him."

"Yup. That's what we've been telling you."

Sam and Daniel both hugged the Hankan as she looked close to tears, and the Astrophysicist's hand moved to his abdomen to feel his baby, which promptly kicked, bringing tears to her eyes as SG-1 and mini-Jack gathered around to feel their surrogate nephew, right before Sam felt her baby kicking.


	27. Amor Part I

One night after Cassie had left again for LA, Sam sat up in bed, waiting for Daniel, as she read a book. As she did so, the soft light of the bedside lamp illuminating the pages, she couldn't stop herself from thinking rather rude thoughts about a certain Archaeologist. She allowed herself to indulge for a moment before her shame overwhelmed her and she mentally shook herself, right as she imagined what consensual sex would feel like with him.

As she fought to focus on what she was reading, she heard the shower switch off and a few moments later, Daniel entered the room, closing the door behind him before joining her in bed. She frowned slightly as she noticed him looking awkward, and she asked, worried as she drew a blanket over them both,

"Daniel?"

He sighed and said, "I can't believe I snapped at Balinsky like that."

"Well, he'll put it down to your supposed illness."

"I know, but still..."

She smiled slightly as she smoothed his arm, and was about to say something when she realised something else. She looked increasingly surprised as he met her gaze curiously, and she said,

"Daniel - you're freezing."

He nodded, his cheeks reddening, and she, realising further, said, "Oh crap... you're on, aren't you?!"

He nodded again, saying as he made to get up, "It's ok - I can sleep downstairs or with Mitchell and Teal'c."

"Oh don't be silly - I trust you."

He half-relaxed back onto the bed, and she asked shyly, "Are you having... rude thoughts too?"

He blushed in reply, and her gaze fell as she said, "Me too. We're in our second trimester -- Doctor Lam said that things would be more sensitive..."

She sighed, and he said, gazing at her, "I could always sleep elsewhere, Sam, if it's going to..."

She shook her head and said as she caressed his bump, "No, we still have the nightmares and..."

She met his gaze and said, "I thought we were going to jump off the bridge?"

"But it's the style of jumping that's in question here."

They gazed at each other in the soft light, neither sure of what to do in such a situation, years of Stargate and military training not happening to cover such a detail. Suddenly, she kissed him, full on the lips. Stunned at first, he reciprocated, his desire taking hold as he stroked her cheek.

They parted, amazed at the feelings that had come forth during their first kiss, and she asked, "This won't ruin our friendship will it?"

His eyes brightening with tears, he smiled at her, replying, "Only if we let it but I have something to tell you first - I love you."

She shook her head, not wanting to believe, and he continued, fondly stroking her cheek, "No, no, it's not the hormones. I love you, always have... I... I only realised after I came back. It's ok though, because I know you don't feel the same way and..."

Overcome with emotion as she realised how much it had taken for him to reveal his feelings for her, and she whispered, placing a finger on his lips to silence him, "You're wrong about one thing, Daniel. I do love you. I fell in love with you on Abydos, but, well, you know... I couldn't have you and I eventually learnt to deal with it."

Tears ran down his cheeks as he released a shuddering breath, and her tears fell too. It felt so good to have their feelings out in the open, and he whispered hoarsely as she kissed his tears away,

"Oh God Sam, you have no idea how long I've been hoping... What about Jack?"

She shook her head, replying as he dried her tears with his thumb, "No Daniel... I'll admit those other realities had me thinking, but those other Sams had it easy with you not being there... If you had been there, they'd be emotional wrecks."

He smiled much more than she had ever remembered him smiling, remarking as he kissed her hand, "I make you an emotional wreck?!"

She caressed his waist as she replied, kissing him softly, "Only because you won't tell me things like this. I thought that you loved Vala, and then you led me down the garden path about Sha're... you probably even lied when I asked you about that question on Vis Uban... You know, for a bad liar, you did a good job of hiding your feelings."

"Years of practice, Sam... and well, I know Jack - he's good at hiding things. I learnt from the best."

She said, tears threatening to fall once again, "Oh, it's so good to have it all out in the open, isn't it?"

Caressing her jaw, he replied, feeling as though a great weight had been lifted off his heart, his heart feeling free once again, soaring into the outer stratosphere, "Oh, you bet, Samantha."

She smiled at his use of her first name; not sarcastic like with Cam, or out of habit like with Vala, or how she secretly wanted Teal'c to call her, but said with such tenderness, such love, that it made her cry. She kissed him, running her fingers through his hair as his fingers played with long strands of her hair, and she said, both of them radiant with happiness,

"I love you."

As he tenderly moved a stray tendril of hair from her face, he whispered, suddenly looking years younger, "I love you too, Samantha."

He gazed at her and asked, "What now?"

Smiling at him fondly, she replied as she drew a certain willing Archaeologist in for another mind-blowing kiss, "Let's see where we go from here."


	28. A Lesson in Peeving

Cam and Teal'c, having heard their friends talking whilst they themselves were talking quietly in their beds, quietly got up and steathily crept to the wall that they shared with Sam and Daniel, the two men eavesdropping to ensure their friends' safety.

When they heard certain phrases, Cam stared at Teal'c, who smirked as they continued to listen. Stepping away from the wall, Cam whispered, grinning,

"Now that's what I'm talking about! It took them long enough."

"Indeed it did, ColonelMitchell, but are you not worried as to their welfare? They are gestating, after all."

Cam looked stunned for a moment as he replied, "No... no, they're... oh God, you don't think they're gonna... they've got buns in their collective ovens. Oh."

Teal'c said, standing to his full height, "It would be wise to overlook the proceedings to ensure that neither ColonelCarter, DanielJackson or their unborn children are harmed in the process of the expression of their suppressed love."

Cam blinked slowly in surprise, glaring at his friend, and Teal'c continued, "On Chulak, it is customary to supervise Sim'kas during their first joining to prevent accidents from lack of experience, or accidental damaging of the symbiotes that they once carried. Sometimes a male may become too exuberant in his thrust--"

"Whoa, Nelly!"

Teal'c, an eyebrow raised, replied, "I am not familiar with the one whom you refer to as 'Nelly'."

Cam glared at him, remarking as he cringed, "T... as much as I'm intrigued by Jaffa mating rituals, I'd rather be able to sleep tonight and for however more nights in the future without getting some weird imagery floating about."

He shook his head in an attempt to get really rude images out of his head that had manifested themselves in his head already, and Teal'c shrugged slightly, thinking to himself in Jaffa, "It is your loss."

Intrigued, Cam asked, his curiosity outweighing his need to bleach his mind, "Uh... T? Did you have to do that for your son?"

Teal'c replied, "I did not, ColonelMitchell. Ry'ac was insistent that he was well-versed in the appropriat rites. As my father was not alive, Bra'tac supervised my first joining with Drey'auc and..."

Cam cleared his throat, embarrassed, and remarked, "T, mental image."

Teal'c simply raised an eyebrow at him, and Cam said, still cringing, "We'll... we'll keep listening in on those two and intervene if it sounds as though they're in trouble."

Teal'c replied, looking as indignant as his Jaffa training would allow, "I find your plan most disturbing, ColonelMitchell."

Cam glared at him, retorting, "And your 'let's watch' plan isn't?!"


	29. Amor Part II

As they parted from another kiss, Sam, amazed as well as overcome with emotion, gazed at an equally so Daniel. He whispered, his cerulean orbs radiant with joy as he cupped her jaw,

"I keep thinking that I'm going to wake up and be alone again."

She smiled, replying, "We took so long to get together. Daniel, if it doesn't work out..."

He tenderly kissed her, saying in reply, "We'll be fine, I promise. I won't let us drift apart if you won't."

"I won't."

"We'll be fine then... you've got nothing to worry about."

She finally broke down into tears, the emotion more intense than previously as she said, the two of them holding onto each other, "Daniel, I was so worried... I know we would have had our friends, but we wouldn't have been able to give our babies a strong family life and... we would have been a couple of people who come together every so often and... Oh God."

He held her as tight as a pregnant person hugging another pregnant person could, and he said, his eyes glistening with tears, "It's ok. We would have worked something out eventually."

They continued kissing, finding comfort and solace in that beautiful gesture, and he whispered, nuzzling her throat, "Sam?"

She remarked, suddenly smiling, "Daniel, we're pregnant - how far can we go without some seriously well thought out positioning?"

She smiled more when she realised without looking that he was red, and he continued nuzzling her. Her fingers trailed beneath his boxers, caressing the now warm skin as he whispered shakily, jolting because of the contact,

"Ah... it's been a while."

She smiled against his neck, not stopping her caresses as she replied quietly, "I thought so."

She groaned quietly, mindful of their friends on the other side of the wall, as he nuzzled her throat and jaw, his fingers, tentatively at first, touching her more intimately. He whispered as their caresses grew more intense,

"Sam, can I take your t-shirt off?"

Touched at his thoughtfulness, she nodded, and he did what he had asked, gasping on seeing her properly for the first time. She felt self-conscious at her bruises and scars, but he proceeded to kiss each one, whispering,

"Oh, you are one beautiful woman, Samantha; inside and out."

He then proceeded to hold one of her breasts, gazing at it in amazement as he ran his thumb across the hyper-sensitive nipple. She gasped, quietly groaning his name as she reached out for him, continuing her caresses.

She pulled his t-shirt off, getting rather turned on on seeing how, despite his condition, his body still looked toned. Amazed, she ran her fingers across his chest and down his abdomen, and as they went under his boxers, she kissed his bump. He whispered, his eyes shut as his head rolled back onto the bed,

"Oh God, I never knew how great sex is during pregnancy."

She raised an eyebrow, remarking as she twisted one of his nipples, "So it's not the fact that you're with me?!"

He gasped at the sensation, retorting with a pout, "Fine, and of course, this Astrophysicist I happen to know."

"This Archaeologist I know is going to get pinched."

They laughed, almost giddy with excitement, and she said, kissing him gently, "God, this is so weird, especially with our kids present."

"Tell me about it."

"So... do you think we should stop now before the kids wake up and give us a good kicking?"

His hand reached for her breast again, and he remarked distracted, "That probably is a good idea... although I've heard great stories about lactating pregnant women."

She snickered as he slowly reddened, replying as she drew a blanket over the both of them, switching the bedside lamp off, "I've heard about that too, but we'll have to leave it for another day... We don't want to have to explain to Cam why the ceiling or adjacent wall is wet."

"Eww... no."

They chuckled, and then rested a hand on each other's hip, symbolising their new found closeness. He caressed her hip, waist and shoulder in tender motions, whispering, still smiling,

"I love you Samantha."

Smiling, she replied as she caressed his back, "I love you too, Daniel."

"You're right - it does feel good."


	30. The Morning After

The next morning, when Sam and Daniel came downstairs for breakfast, Teal'c managed to keep an unsuspiciously straight face, but that was more than could be said for Cam. The poor Colonel barely held it together as they sat down, holding hands under the table, and he had to race to the kitchen sink to laugh over it silently, his shoulders heaving as he tried to drink some water.

Sam and Daniel exchanged a panicked look, both of them then looking at Teal'c, who said, smiling slightly, "I believe that congratulations are in order, ColonelCarter and DanielJackson."

Sam asked, glancing at Daniel, puzzled, "How did you know?"

Cam guffawed, remarking but still not facing his friends, "You were hardly quiet about it."

The scientists promptly blushed, glancing down at the table, still holding hands as they glanced furtively at each other. Daniel said, quietly but firmly,

"You listened in?"

Cam looked at Teal'c for help, and the Jaffa said, "We only did so for your welfare, taking into account your conditions. ColonelMitchell informed me that it would not be appropriate to supervise you in your first joining as it was on Chulak."

Sam blinked in surprise as Daniel reddened further, already familiar with that fact, and Cam, glaring at Teal'c, remarked, "Yeah, that whole porno floor show didn't sit well with me... but we had to keep an ear out."

Sam replied, taking a deep breath, "Thanks, you guys..."

Daniel added, the red colour in his face not fading, "Uh, yeah, it's the thought that counts and... we know that you would have run in at the first sign of trouble. Thanks."

Cam smiled slightly as he looked at Teal'c, who said with a straight face as Sam and Daniel shot each other little furtive smiles, "You are most welcome. I am informed that a party to mark this will not be appropriate."


	31. Kitchen Watch

Cam, cooking in the kitchen, periodically peeked out through the window into the back yard, making sure that his friends were ok as they lay in the grass under a blanket, and he said to Vala, who was holding him around the waist from behind, and Teal'c, who stood in the doorway,

"It's nice that the big secret's out... It was getting annoying."

Teal'c smiled slightly, feeling happy that his friends had sorted things out somewhat, and Vala remarked, "'Getting'?! My dear Colonel, you must have nerves of steel if you weren't already annoyed."

Cam shook his head slightly, glaring at the wall behind the cooker for a moment, and Teal'c replied, "I believe ColonelMitchell's remark to be a deliberate understatement. It is obvious that the withholding of their feelings was a frustrating enterprise for all concerned."

He added with a Jaffa smile, "... It is a good thing to witness a smile upon the countenance of DanielJackson."

Vala smiled with a distant expression on her face, and Cam remarked, "That's for sure... I don't think I've ever seen him smile... ever, but if we looky-out there, he's grinning like the Cheshire cat... They're both so damn happy now."

Vala added with an optimistic sigh as she adjusted her hold on her boyfriend, "Let's hope it lasts."

The three friends fell into an uneasy silence, all three aware of the fact that the ex-thief had feelings for everyone's favourite Archaeologist, the silence interrupted only by the sound of the doorbell. Teal'c went to answer the door as Cam frowned slightly, wondering who it was as Vala straightened up, releasing him.

Teal'c returned soon afterwards, stepping aside in reply to Cam's questioning look to reveal none other than mini-Jack, who asked, his eyebrows raising briefly, "Hey... how are my favourite pregnant scientists doing?"

Teal'c replied as Cam and Vala exchanged a glance, worrying the younger man, "They are very well, O'Neill the Younger."

Vala added, smiling innocently, "Indeed."

Mini-Jack, sensing something, remarked as he looked around his friends, "I interrupt a moonshine session or something? Oh, wait, I get it -- you were making Jackson Five jokes. Man, those are so old..."

Cam and Vala, glancing at each, parted so that the younger man could see out of the window and he paused, agape, on seeing Sam and Daniel kissing tenderly. Cam, scratching the back of his neck and feeling awkward considering that the young man was technically Jack, said,

"They got their act together."

Teal'c, noticing how still mini-Jack was, asked, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Are you troubled, O'Neill the Younger?"

Mini-Jack mentally shook himself after watching the scene before him, coming to a startling realisation of why nothing had happened between his original self and Sam, and he replied, slowly smiling, "Hell no. They look so damn happy - they deserve everything that they can get. I noticed how well they fitted together years back. I can't believe it took Dannyboy to get knocked up to find happiness."

Teal'c and Vala smirked as Cam replied, "That's what I said."


	32. Dusky Twilight

Outside, in the dusky twilight, the weather unseasonably warm, the two scientists lay together under a blanket, talking, laughing, and touching each other intimately, feeling overwhelming happiness at the developments of the past twenty-four hours, the ice that had built up around their respective hearts over the years, having melted away. She remarked in a semi-sober moment,

"I have to tell you, Daniel... the men I get involved with have a habit of dying or getting injured and given clearance to learn about what I do."

He whispered with a carefree grin, burying his nose in her long fair hair, "Well, seeing as I have died more than a few times, got shot and wounded more times than I would like to think about, and... and already possess the highest clearance in the US government, I think I'm pretty safe."

She cradled his jaw in her hand, bringing him in for a kiss, murmuring against his lips, "I hope so."

They kissed, and he moaned lightly when they parted, remarking, "You taste of chocolate."

She retorted, resting an arm on the area between his chest and swollen abdomen, "Well, you take cold showers, and I eat chocolate."

He kissed her again, whispering, "I could get used to it..."

She laughed, the sound music to his ears, and she remarked, her fingers caressing his cheek, "It's not bad, especially when you take into consideration that my new albeit fantastic boyfriend has a major chocolate craving."

Reddening, he retorted with a smug smile, "Well... this Astrophysicist I'm seeing says the same thing."

Deciding to play along, she asked, feigning coyness, "So... you have a girlfriend?"

"Oh yes. Intensely crazy but I've been in love with her, to tell the truth, for a decade."

She blinked in surprise, remarking with a frown, "You held out for ten years?"

He nodded, his smile faded, and replied quietly, his gaze dropping as he played with the edge of the blanket, "Even when it was wrong..."

He sighed, and she pulled him into a hug as best she could considering their circumstance, and she remarked with a wistful sigh, "We're as bad as each other. We could have done this years back..."

He asked softly, gazing at her tenderly as his fingers lightly traced her jaw, "What about your job?"

She replied, gazing back at him steadily, "SG-1 does anything for each other. I would have moved to another team or..."

He cut her off, horrified, and said, "No... if anything had happened, I would move. I can take the gossip, but you, your career is important to you, and you care about what people think, especially in the paternal hierarchy of the Air Force. Things like that could affect your career. Jack and Teal'c would have looked out for you."

Horrified too, she replied firmly, "SG-1 is nothing without you Daniel."

When he made to object, she shook her head, continuing, "Nothing's going to change what I think about this, and it's the truth anyway. You are the life and soul of SG-1, it's conscience, it's voice, it's humanitarian face. The General knows that, Teal'c knows that, and I sure as hell do. We've lost you so many times that it's glaringly obvious. The year you were gone was... it was awful. If Cam had been there, he would have said that it was like Wham! without George Michael, or the Rolling Stones without Mick Jagger... it really was that bad. SG-1 felt dead.

"Now if you compare that with when I was in Nevada last year, you guys did fine without me. It just proves my point further."

He frowned slightly, remarking, "Sam, it was... different without you, and not in a good way... I only put in for a transfer to Atlantis because Teal'c had gone, and you... you had gone and..."

His gaze dropped as he continued quietly, "I thought you and Jack were going to finally get it together."

Shocked and admittedly dismayed at what he had just said, she asked, "You were going to go all those thousands of light years away because of that?"

He nodded, still not looking her in the eyes, and he said softly, "Well, ok, I wanted to finally get to see the City, but it was mainly because of that. I asked you if you wanted to go but..."

She smiled briefly in bemusement, replying, "Daniel, I refused because Cassie needed me. I couldn't leave her like that. God knows, if anything had happened to me, it would have killed her. She has no-one else. The General was in D.C., and Teal'c would have been on Dakara, and she maybe would have had General Hammond perhaps, and that's it."

He nodded again, whispering, "I know I was selfish, but I wanted us to work in the City together, kind of like a platonic Marie and Pierre Curie. It would have been so cool."

She smiled at the uncharacteristic use of the term 'cool', and he continued, meeting her gaze, "It was odd going through the 'gate without you, after Vala had shackled herself to me. We ended up following a Ferengi material continuum..."

She snickered at the Deep Space Nine reference, and he added, shyly smiling at her, "I shaved my beard for you when I heard that you were coming back."

She blinked slowly in surprise and remarked, cringing slightly, "I heard about you growing a beard... that was surreal. I kept thinking of Commander Riker. No offence... but eww."

He retorted with a cheeky smile as he kissed her, murmuring against her lips, "Ya, totally... I only grew it out because I thought that I wasn't going to see you for a while."

She caressed his smooth jaw as the kiss grew in fervour, and she whispered, gazing up at him as their gazes locked when the kiss had ended, "Clean-shaven suits you."

He remarked with a groan as he settled down next to her once more, his hand gently caressing from her waist to her hip, "I'm glad that the father of my child approves."

She laughed again, suddenly very, very amused at their situation, and he rested his cheek against hers as she calmed down, their embrace tightening, and she said with a sigh, "Oh, I am so glad that you're here with me Daniel..."

"Same here, Sam... It's scary, but not as scary as it could have been if either of us were alone and going through this."


	33. Bladder Dancing, and the Rest

After a few minutes, he whispered as he affectionately buried his nose in her hair, "Sam?"

She kissed his neck, replying, "Daniel?"

He pursed his lips, and asked after a beat, "Is my Junior's sister dancing on your bladder?"

She nodded and replied, wincing slightly, "Oh yeah. What about you?"

"The same... it's just..."

She continued for him, "It's so nice being out here like this."

"Yep."

They continued gazing at each other, and he asked, looking uncertain, "How do we get up?"

She looked past him and replied with a shrug, "We could try doing a little SG-sit up."

He remarked, unable to stop smiling, "You've been around Mitchell too much."

"Ah, maybe... come on."

They slowly helped each other to sit up, just as Cam, Teal'c and Vala came running out, the Colonel asking, "What's up?"

Before either of them could reply, Vala remarked with a smile, "Did you have to ask? It's obvious that their delightful children are compressing their bladders."

Sam and Daniel both looked embarrassed as Cam and Teal'c helped them up, the Colonel glaring at the ex-thief as though to suggest that it was too much information, Teal'c remembering wistfully how Drey'auc had been during her pregnancy.

Inside, Daniel insisted that Sam use the downstairs bathroom, while Teal'c escorted him through the kitchen and lounge to the stairs, the Archaeologist saying a rushed 'hi' to mini-Jack, as well as Jack, the two men seated opposite each other and looking increasingly belligerent.

When Sam had finished, she wasn't surprised to see Cam waiting outside for her, and he said quietly, "Sam... we've got l'il Jack and General O'Neill over. The little man's ok about you too, but the General saw you and he's - in a word - pissed. He's taking it out on his clone though. You might want to duck out... I've sent Teal'c and Vala back to the mountain in case either of them get angry."

She frowned briefly as she processed the scenario, before thanking the Colonel as he escorted her through the kitchen to the lounge, "Thanks for the head's up but I won't duck out. He's going to keep on taking pot-shots."

She arrived in the doorway between the kitchen and lounge, just as Daniel had reached the doorway between the hallway and lounge, and they both saw the two O'Neills looking very riled up. She looked across at the Archaeologist, meeting his eyes and silently communicating with him. He nodded slightly, and they slowly made their way to the couch, cushioning their backs.

As Cam perched on the arm of the couch nearest the kitchen, Sam, wincing at the discomfort in her back, remarked as she looked from mini-Jack to Jack, deciding to drop rank, "Jack, just what the hell is your problem?"

Daniel's only visibly expression of surprise was a raise of his eyebrows as mini-Jack smirked, the older man glaring at her, saying testily, "Carter... what happened to me being your superior officer?"

"I'd tell you but I'd get busted for insubordination."

Mini-Jack said bitterly, "It's because he's got an ego the size of what they cover Connecticut with when it rains."

Jack shot back angrily, "Can it, you little pipsqueak. I was never you."

"_Someone's_ suffering from denial..."

Sam closed her eyes briefly as Daniel reached for her hand in a supportive gesture, the Archaeologist saying, "Jack, stop acting so childishly. Are you angry because of the mission; because Sam's pregnant; because it was me that..."

Jack raised his hand, stopping him, and he was about to say something when he finally noticed Cam, and he asked Sam, exasperated, "Carter, does _he_ have to be here?"

Sam and Daniel exchanged a confused glance before the former asked, "Who, mini-Jack?"

As mini-Jack scowled at the name, Jack shook his head, his gaze dropping to the floor as he said, "No, Mitchell."

Cam was about to get up to leave when Daniel said firmly, narrowing his eyes slightly at Jack, "No, Mitchell's staying. God knows how you've managed to drive Teal'c and Vala away, but our commanding officer is staying."

Cam said, feeling awkward as he settled down again, "Hey... I can go..."

Daniel shook his head before saying to Jack, glaring at the older man, "Right, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Jack replied, running his fingers through his cropped hair with a sigh as his gaze once more dropped to the floor, "For years, I thought that..."

Sam said softly, looking at him sympathetically, "You thought that we had a chance."

Jack nodded almost imperceptibly in reply, saying quietly, "There never was a right time to tell you how I felt, what with the snake-heads and albino-heads swimming about."

Sam continued, "Sir, we never had a chance. We would have driven each other nuts within a week, guaranteed. The fact that we didn't do anything when we could means that we both knew that it wouldn't work, plus the fact that either of us didn't resign to see where we could go. I was young and confused, and hurt admittedly. You are the best commanding officer that SG-1 will ever have, Sir, but we only have bikes and cars in common. Sure there's Astronomy too, but... well, come on..."

She added as Daniel gently squeezed her hand to remind him of her presence, the General glaring at the contact, "I'm sorry if you have a problem with me and Daniel, but we're in love, and we have been for a long time. "

An uneasy silence fell on the room, everyone else but mini-Jack waiting with bated breath to hear what Jack would say in reply, watching for any signs that he could erupt worse than Krakatoa. Mini-Jack smiled proudly at his friends, having resolved his feelings for Sam during his long time away from the SGC, and he hoped that Jack would eventually realise what he had.

Finally, Jack stood, saying with a hollow expression, "Daniel, you are one hell of a lucky man - don't you ever forget that... and..."

He inwardly fought back his pain until it was manageable, and continued, looking at Sam, "Carter, I'm sorry for shouting at you at the mountain."

And with that, he left, leaving three very stunned people, and one relieved teenager behind. Daniel instinctively pulled Sam into his arms as she whispered, tired,

"That really took a lot out of me... I hope he doesn't do anything stupid."

He tenderly kissed her hair, not wanting to lie to her as he wasn't sure himself. Cam, looking concerned, debated what to do as mini-Jack replied,

"Carter, he'll be fine - he just needs to kick back and think things through."

Cam remarked, scratching the back of his neck, "Well, let's hope he doesn't go nuts."

He looked at Sam and asked as Daniel closed his eyes, "You guys ok?"

Daniel replied in a quiet voice, "Just tired."


	34. Melodious

In bed that night, Daniel asleep at her side, she carefully turned onto her back so as not to wake him as she exhaled, a sad expression on her face as she thought of the situation with Jack. His eyes eventually opened and he gazed across at her, concerned, and asked,

"Sam?"

She sniffed, asking, sounding increasingly worried, "Maybe I should have phrased it better. He's hurt, Daniel, and I don't know what's going to happen. What if he hurts himself? What if he..."

He winced as he sat up under the weight of his unborn child, gently helping her to sit up too, both of them ensuring that their backs were suitably rested. He said quietly, mindful of Cam on the other side of the wall,

"Sam, it's Jack. It would take a lot for him to do something stupid. He just needs to clear his head and think things through. He won't stay mad... that isn't the kind of man he is. He's just been taken by surprise."

She nodded, pressing her lips together in a vain attempt to prevent herself from crying, and he tenderly kissed her, whispering, "Sam, it's all going to work out - you'll see. Jack's going to be ok."

"I hope so Daniel... I really do."

"Me too."

He leant in to kiss her again when she grabbed a fistful of his t-shirt, pulling him in quicker, making him yelp into her mouth as she kissed him ardently, her fingers wandering beneath his t-shirt. When they parted, breathless, he exhaled and whispered, amused,

"Sam, we don't want to wake our Juniors up..."

He reached across her to the nightstand for a book and his glasses, and on seeing her bemused expression, he said as he slipped his glasses on, "I'll read to you."

She suddenly grinned as she held onto his right arm, remarking, "You have a nice voice."

He blushed in embarrassment as he opened the book, and proceeded to read to her, his arm around her as she idly traced circles on his swollen abdomen with her finger, the Archaeologist periodically kissing her on the forehead. She smiled slightly, closing her eyes as his melodious voice washed over her, easing her worries, calming her fears, and making her feel cosy and warm in such an intimate position with him.


	35. Chocolate Cake and Pecan Pie

After about half an hour, she shifted uncomfortably, her muscles cramping up, and he asked, pausing his reading and finally admitting that he had been feeling the same too, "Sam? Are you cramping up too?"

She nodded, whispering as she winced, "Big time... you?"

"Yep."

She looked at him, half-amused, half-worried, and he, meeting her gaze, said with a shrug, smiling slightly, "I didn't want to say anything."

She leant her head on his shoulder, remarking quietly with a small smile, "Typical."

He tenderly kissed her forehead and whispered, "Do you want something to eat? I think we can make it downstairs without waking Mitchell up."

She cocked her head slightly as though deep in thought, before saying as she stretched, wincing, "Ok."

They helped each other up, carefully albeit quietly making their way downstairs as their cramped, stiff joints protested slightly at the workout, their unborn children apparently asleep, or perhaps channeling their Uncle Teal'c in attempting to perform Kel-no-reem.

Downstairs, after a detour to the fridge, the two of them sat on the floor, their backs resting against the front of the couch, with plates of either pecan pie or chocolate cake. A quiet DVD the only source of light in the room, they sat together, eating, and talking quietly. He remarked with a little smile as he glanced across at her,

"I don't think I could have got this far with anyone else."

She turned to him, replying with an expression tinged with wistfulness as she briefly touched his forearm, "I feel the same. As much as the mission was just about one of the most terrible things to happen, I wouldn't want to go through this with anyone else."

He said with a weary sigh as he set his plate down, "Sam..."

Worried, she set her plate down too, and as she was about to ask what was wrong, he said, looking down at his bump as he gently smoothed it, "It's weird... well, it's weird anyway, but it's..."

He turned to meet her gaze and continued, "With you being pregnant, everyone's congratulating you and making crude jokes about it being born under Venus. With me, no-one knows, and they either think I'm overweight, crazy, both... or they buy into the tumour story. It's just..."

Tears welling in her eyes, she gently caressed his jaw, replying, "Daniel, I don't think that you're overweight or crazy."

He swallowed and said, gazing at her, "I'm sorry Sam - I must sound selfish. It's just that even if I wasn't here, you'd still have a huge support network, not only at the mountain, but with SG-1..."

She cut in, frowning in bemusement, "No, I'm sure some people are thinking of me as a whore."

When he looked shocked and was about to object, she continued with a sigh as she looked down, "Being on SG-1, and being an L T Colonel are my saving graces. You're ok - you're fine. No-one knows you've gone Junior. Everyone pities you for whatever happened to you on the planet that gave you your... tumour. With me, they secretly think that I could have said 'no', that I had a choice, and that I let it happen. With you, you're admired for..."

A stray tear ran down her cheek, and she trailed off, unable to continue. He stared at her in shock, realising things that he hadn't before. He moved closer to her, holding her as best he could, and he said quietly but firmly,

"Sam, I would floor anyone who called you anything like that... and this isn't your boyfriend talking - this is your best friend and team-mate talking."

She smiled as she leant her head on his shoulder, replying quietly, "Oh you."

He tenderly kissed her, whispering with a small smile, "We'll get through this. We've got each other."

His smile widened as he remarked, touching the tip of her nose, "And who cares what others think? Their opinions don't matter."

She smiled back at him, feeling much better than she had a few minutes ago, and she replied as she ran her fingers through his hair, "That's a good attitude. We shouldn't care about what others think. It's what we think that matters."

She remarked with a grin as she picked up his plate of chocolate cake, "Now let's see if you really make chocolate taste better."

As she lifted a forkful to his lips, he raised his eyebrows at her mirthfully, remarking, "You're crazy"

"Oh yes."

He managed to stop laughing long enough to chew and swallow, before he said, licking his lower lip slowly, "Well, I can at least say that you make chocolate taste better."

She groaned, remarking with a pained expression, "Just don't go licking your lips like that again -- it's taking all my willpower not to jump you, and considering how far along we are, it's rather dangerous."

He raised his eyebrows at her in surprise, retorting as he feigned innocence, "You need some chocolate."

He reached out to caress her jaw, gently bringing her in for a kiss before they simultaneously groaned when the kiss deepened. Breathless, they parted, and she remarked with a happy sigh,

"Oh, you really do make chocolate taste better... that's some nice chocolate therapy."

He looked at her, stunned, and remarked, albeit in a slightly higher pitched voice, "What, you think my PhDs are in Archaeology, Linguistics and Philology?"

She laughed out loud at not only the remark but the cheekily innocent expression that accompanied it, before retorting, grinning, "Chocology?!"

They both suddenly looked stunned and they gazed at each other in amazement, he asking as they smoothed their bumps, "Did my Junior's sister just kick?"

She nodded, smiling, and he remarked as they each reached over to feel the other's bump, "They're probably telling us to keep the noise down... Well, at least we don't have to worry about them being bad when they're older..."

She added, "... which is going to be a challenge with the General, mini-Jack and Vala around."

"Damn straight."

They gazed at each for a moment, before he picked up her plate of pecan pie, the two of them then proceeding to feed each other, smiling slightly as they savoured the tastes of their respective cravings. He whispered after swallowing a mouthful,

"Hmm... We're going to have to talk after the babies are born."

Realising what he meant after a moment of confusion, she nodded and replied, her gaze fallen to the plate of chocolate cake, "I know. We haven't started out like other couples. There shouldn't really be a problem what with us already knowing each other inside out, but there's the physical side. So far we've only done it once but that was far from ideal circumstances and I suppose, doesn't really count... well, it wouldn't had we not got pregnant as a result."

She sighed, and he gently tipped her face up so that their gazes met before saying , "It'll work out. We'll be in better states to talk when this is all over, and able to decide where we're going."

She nodded, and was about to say something when she smiled slightly, calling behind her, over the couch, "Hey Cam."

He frowned at her in confusion before the lines straightened out when he realised what was going on. He called over his shoulder,

"Hey Mitchell."

A very spooked Cam appeared from the hallway, asking, "How did you know?"

Sam looked at Daniel, smiling, and replied, "Smelled you - you've got a lemony scent."

Cam stuck his nose inside his t-shirt before saying, "It's not even that strong... I can barely smell it."

Daniel replied, glancing at an amused Sam, "Enhanced smell receptors."

Sam said, laughing, "It was funny at the mountain - I could smell Daniel before he appeared."

Daniel remarked, a little shy, "I hope that's a good thing."

"You're lucky that I quite like rose and sandalwood."

He smiled at her, his blush not obvious in the light of the DVD, and Cam said, "You guys ok? I was about to go when you guys smelled me."

Daniel replied, "We're fine..."

Sam added, "Come on, you can hang out with us -- there's a lot of sweet stuff in the fridge."

Cam, looking awkward as he had caught some of their earlier conversation, said, "I don't want to intrude... you guys are doing coupley stuff."

Sam and Daniel exchanged a glance, the latter saying, "We won't embarrass you -- sit yourself down."

Cam, smiling slightly, went into the kitchen to get a plate of pie, and returning, his smile grew on seeing the two scientists feeding each other. He remarked to himself as he sat down in an armchair,

"Oh, it's times like this that make it all worth it."


	36. Another Plan

One morning, a bleary-eyed Cam came downstairs to make breakfast to find the table already laden with steaming plates and mugs. He stared at the table, stunned as he tried to think who had made it. Surely if it was his doing, he would remember doing it, unless he had suddenly started sleep-cooking. Sam and Daniel were out too as they had stayed up late again the previous night and he had just checked in on them to see them fast asleep.

His mind still sleep-fogged, he scratched the back of his head in puzzlement, wondering what kind of burglar would make breakfast and then serve it up. He then thought that perhaps the Ori had taken to using some new tactics in their ongoing crusade against all that opposed them... by making breakfast for three members of Earth's first line of defence. Just as he was about to call the SGC, he nearly leapt three miles into the air when none other than Jack, Teal'c and Vala emerged from behind a door, the General remarking,

"The future looks bleak for my kids with you in charge."

Cam blinked slowly, mentally shaking himself as his brain registered who was in front of him, and he retorted, closing his eyes, "Well _Sir_, I was having a hard time trying to think what kind of burglar would make breakfast and then leave it... and I was up late. Anyway, aren't you mad at my two lead singers?"

Teal'c looked at Jack meaningfully as Vala slipped her arms around Cam's waist, leaning her head on his shoulder as she too looked at Jack, who shrugged, replying with a straight face, "I'm Uncle Jack."

Cam looked at Teal'c for an explanation, and the Jaffa said, "You tirelessly care for DanielJackson and ColonelCarter, and we wish to ease your toil as we should due to our common kinship."

Cam thanked his friends after looking oddly at Teal'c's lack of explanation for Jack's apparent change of heart, and Vala said, smiling, "You do work hard, so as Muscles here said in his fun way, we've giving you a break."

Jack cleared his throat as Cam and Vala gazed at each other, the General feeling awkward, and he said to Vala, "Tell him the other thing."

As Cam looked from the General and back to Vala curiously, Vala whispered something in his ear. When she had finished, Cam looked bemused as he looked at Jack and Teal'c, the Jaffa's eyebrow raising as he wondered what had been said. Jack glared at Vala, also wondering what she had said, and Cam asked, clearing his throat,

"You and Teal'c, Sir?... Well, so long as you're happy and comfortable with it."

Jack and Teal'c exchanged an odd glance before proceeding to glare at a cheekily smiling Vala, the General saying, "Vala, no wonder Daniel used to get pissed at you."

Cam, still smiling, said, "Hey, no, I'm guessing the first part was true... just having a bit of fun at your expense. Uh... well, our two pregnant peeps are gonna be beaming. Are you telling them?"

Jack, smiling slightly, looked to Teal'c, who replied, standing up straighter as he too smiled slightly, "We will not."

Jack, patting Teal'c on the shoulder, remarked, "Daniel was onto something when he said that Teal'c's deep."

Vala was about to say something when Teal'c got there first, replying with a perfectly straight face, "Yes - beer."


	37. Jackson Seven

Sam and Daniel both felt a tad awkward on seeing Jack again, and even more so when he offered to drive them to work after breakfast. The Archaeologist asked him, confused,

"What about Mitchell?"

Jack, feigning offence, remarked, "Daniel, don't be rude. I got my driver's licence way before he was even born."

Sam smirked as Daniel retorted, his eyebrows raised, "Sure Jack - you were fifteen when he was born... so having your licence _way_ before he was born would mean that you were breaking the law, and that could jeopardise your career."

Jack raised his finger, about to reply when he realised that he had been caught out so he rolled his eyes and shot back, "Smart ass."

Daniel smiled innocently at him, and Sam said with a smile, glancing through the doorway to the kitchen from the lounge, "I think I've solved it... Cam and Vala want some alone time."

Daniel asked, confused as he sighted Teal'c standing near the far doorway in the kitchen, "Shouldn't Teal'c come with us then?"

Jack replied with a dismissive gesture, "Oh you should have heard the man earlier - he was all 'I wish to learn more of the mating rituals of the Tau'ri'."

The two scientists exchanged a shocked glance, before looking straight at the General who shrugged, adding, "He does play a Jaffa on TV after all. Come on, asses out of the house or I'm court-martialling the lot of you."

He led the bemused scientists out of the house and into his car, making sure that they were securely seated in the backseat, much to their further bemusement, and leading Daniel to remark despite being touched by their friend's caring nature, "Jack, we're not going to bolt. We can barely walk as it is."

Jack said nothing, smiling slightly as he got into the driving seat and started up the engine. En route to the mountain as the scientists silently wondered what was going to happen, Jack, glancing at them in his rear-view mirror, asked,

"You two thought of any names?"

A touch confused as they didn't think he would talk to them much after the fallout, Sam replied as Daniel glanced at her, "Yes Sir... Daniel's keen on James for his Junior but we're not sure for a middle name. I'm thinking of naming mine after either Janet or my mother."

Jack, looking thoughtful, asked, "What was your Mom's name?"

"Grace."

"Ah, that is a nice name... Grace Carter-Jackson has a nice ring to it."

Sam and Daniel exchanged a bemused glance, the former saying, "That's what Daniel said, Sir."

Jack said with a sigh, "You might _not_ want to use Janet as a first name though what with Dannyboy's unfortunate surname."

Daniel, smiling nonetheless, remarked as Sam, smiling too, looked out of the window, "Jaaack, I'm not a kid."

"Daniel, you'll always be a kid to me."

Sam silently reached for Daniel's hand, squeezing it in support, and she said in reply to Jack's original remark, "It would make a good middle name though."

"Well... you both could always go for..."

Daniel remarked quietly to Sam, "Here we go..."

She smiled as Jack continued, emphasising each name for effect, "Michael, Janet, LaToya, Tito, Jermaine, Randy..."

"Jack, that was so predictable of you. We knew you were going to do this weeks back."

"Hey, I'm Uncle Jack and I'm getting old."

The three of them fell into an unsure silence, Sam glancing at Daniel, who eventually asked, "Jack?"

"Daniel?"

Daniel sighed quietly as he met Sam's gaze briefly, and he asked, "Are we cool?"

Jack replied with a shrug, his features straight, "Sure you are. Who else would give the Goa'uld what for 'til they bailed and then give the other geeks a run for their money in the technobabble and rocks stakes?"

Sam laughed quietly as Daniel raised his eyebrows, saying, "Jack, you know what I meant."

Jack exhaled slowly and replied quietly, "Sure. We're cool."

Sam, a little tearful, gazed at Daniel before replying, "Thanks Sir."

Jack lit up as he remarked, "I want to be a godfather though - I do a ripping Marlon Brando."

The scientists laughed, the mood lifting as Jack proceeded to do an entertaining albeit inaccurate impression of said actor.


	38. Rumour Mill

As Daniel looked through a report of a set of ruins that SG-13 had encountered on a recent mission, he happened to catch part of a conversation between two Airmen as they walked past his open door. He was about to ignore it when he realised who they were talking about. The first Airman said,

"Can't believe he's coming back... Apparently he's coming to help out when Colonel Carter's babies are born."

The other Airman replied, "Oh... yeah. Hey, wouldn't it be funny if they were his?"

Daniel felt inexplicably angered at the remark, and he found himself consciously listening further.

"Nah man... They're Doctor Jackson's alright. Damn shame what happened to him. His tumour's huge and they can't operate yet 'cos they're not sure about the moonshine that those asses fed them."

"They should have used the Odyssey to blast the planet to bits."

"Are you kidding, the good Doctor wouldn't let that happen. The guy's died already saving the Planet of the Idiots, and I'll bet he'd do it again if he could."

Daniel frowned in confusion as their voices faded. He smiled slightly at the Airman's adopted name for Langara before quickly concealing it as he felt a touch guilty, reminding himself that the Kelownan government did what they had thought was right.

He got back to wondering who they were talking about, and his angered returned briefly when Jack's name resurfaced in his consciousness. He mentally shook himself before deciding to seek out Sam for two reasons: to ask her about it, and because he was feeling lonely.

He slowly albeit carefully made his way to the Commissary, where he found her reading a book, a glass of juice to the side. He sat opposite her, asking as she looked up at him in surprise,

"Hey, how are you doing?"

She replied with a small smile as she reached for his hand, a group of Airmen cheering lecherously before being subdued by ice-cold glares from both of them, "Half bored. The General won't let me look at the latest mission reports, and Doctor Lam said that it may be because that her Mom had a paper craving when she was pregnant. I did mention that I wasn't having paper urges but he won't budge... How about you?"

He smiled in amusement at the story before his smile faded as he related to her most of what he had heard. When he had finished, she shrugged, replying, "I don't know who it could be. It doesn't make sense to be the General seeing as he's in and out of the mountain so much that 'coming back' isn't exactly notable in general."

He squeezed her hands and asked, smiling bashfully, "So... how do you think Teal'c's coping?"

She laughed, remarking, "I would seriously pay good money to see his face right about now. It's nice that Cam and Vala are getting some alone time. They haven't really spent much time together outside of a team setting because of us two."

She added, glancing at the now innocent-looking Airmen a few tables away, "Let's go - those two are hanging on to every word we're saying."

"Well, it's just as well we weren't being rude."

She smiled in amusement as he reddened, and as they left the Commissary, their arms around each other in support, she replied, leaning her head on shoulder, "Well, if your redness if anything to by, their agreggate redness would power the SGC ten times over."

"Oh, this is what I get for mixing with Astrophysicists."

"You're just jealous Archaeologist, Linguist, Philologist, Chocologist..."

He was about to reply when they nearly walked straight into Landry, both of them wincing as they quickly straightened up, the General, amused, asking after them.


	39. A Car or a Wheelbarrow?

By the end of their shift, the two scientists were seated in the Archaeologist's office, her head leant on his shoulder as he flicked through an artefact report, gesturing to various details as they talked quietly. It was this way that Jack had found them, and he took a moment to stand in the doorway, smiling slightly as he watched them, realising further what he had realised earlier about how well they went together.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Sam said, not looking up, "Hi Sir."

Jack blinked slowly, remarking, "Ok... don't tell me that your kid's channeling you psychic powers."

Daniel replied, not looking up as well, "Nope, enhanced sense of smell."

Sam added, smiling, "Barley and Spearmint."

Jack said with a slight smile, "Ah, I remember Sara during her first trimester. She couldn't smell anything without having to run to the bathroom. Anyway, how are you doing?"

Sam looked up and, mindful that anyone could be listening, replied, "Fine Sir. Ankles swelled up a treat earlier."

Jack winced, and said with a clap of his hands, "So... you two ready to be sprung? I'm your ride home... and Daniel, no wise-ass remarks about Mitchell's driving skills being better than mine."

As Sam smiled, Daniel retorted, his eyebrows raised, "Why, Jack, I wouldn't think of it, _although_... what happened to Mitchell?"

Sam added, "Did you kill him out of jealousy Sir?"

Jack remarked, looking at the two of them in amusement, "I don't envy him, believe me. Sara was a lot to deal with and she was just one person, although when you're done, I want you to..."

Daniel interrupted him by remarking, looking sceptical, "Jack, we're not going to be an intergalactic Scooby gang. One thing, we're too old... our collective ages add up to something like two-hundred and seventy-five... and another thing, the Ori are still out there and I doubt that they would disguise themselves as Mr McGulliger the old janitor."

Sam looked increasingly amused, and Jack opened and closed his mouth, stumped once again before retorting, "You're just sore because you didn't think it up first."

"Jaaack..."

Jack rolled his eyes and remarked, "Daniel... do you want the ride home in my car or in a wheelbarrow?!"


	40. Bienvenue á la Chambre des Bébés

At Sam's house, Jack led the two confused scientists into the house and up the stairs, Daniel remarking quietly to Sam as they supported each other, "I hope it doesn't turn out that he's hooked up video cameras in our room..."

Jack retorted, pausing to turn and glare at him, "Daniel, that's a little too technical for me, and besides, you've done the wild thing already."

Sam and Daniel looked embarrassed as the walk resumed, and Jack paused once more, this time outside the other spare room. As he opened the door, he said with a smirk,

"Bienvenue á la chambre des Bébés."

The two of them were too shocked to notice Jack's use of French as they looked around the room's interior in utter shock as well as the five paint-splattered people standing in the middle of said room, particularly one Jonas Quinn with shorter hair than she had seen him with the last time SG-1 had encountered him. Sam gasped in surprise before quickly approaching the Kelownan and hugging him as best she could over her bump, saying,

"Oh, it's great to see you again Jonas!"

Jonas replied, hugging her back with a huge grin, "Right back at you. I've, ah, missed SG-1."

"We've missed you too."

Vala remarked, smiling fondly at an embarrassed Jonas as a slightly disgruntled looking Cassie shot her a look, "It's been nice getting to know this agreeable little man."

Daniel stepped forward, and after greeting his friends and Jonas, he and Sam gazed around the freshly painted room and the newly installed baby furniture, and he said, his arm around the Astrophysicist, "Oh, this is great... Thank you but you shouldn't have."

Teal'c replied as Jonas grinned at him, "Quite the contrary, DanielJackson."

Jack said from behind them as Sam and Daniel both hugged Cassie, "Come on, we're... well, most of us are Uncles and Aunties to those geniuses in baking... It's a present."

Mini-Jack, glancing a tad uneasily at Jonas, added, "Damn straight."

Jonas asked as his gaze returned to Daniel, particularly his bump, and he asked, scratching his head, "Uh... so... you're pregnant then?"

Everyone smiled as Jack remarked, rolling his eyes as mini-Jack looked increasingly grim, "Wow... your powers of deduction are up this week, Jonas."

As Cam looked troubled at the tension coming from the two Jacks, Daniel replied, "I imagine you've been told about it already. It's true."

"Ah..."

"It's a lot to take in, I know... these guys are hanging on the edge as it is."

Sam, Daniel and Cassie smirked as most of his friends took to glaring at him, and Jack clapped his hands, saying, "Ok folks, break it up. We've got a lot of takeout hurtling its way to our position and a trip to the Infirmary is the last thing we need. Move out."

Everyone filed out, Daniel the last to leave, and he remarked, "Move out?"

Jack rolled his eyes and retorted, his finger raised, "Dannyboy, highest ranking officer under this roof here."

"Civilian."

"Do you want me to teach your Junior how to break locks?"


	41. Friends, Weapons and Promises

SG-1, past and present, sat with Cassie around Sam's now very crowded kitchen table that evening, eating, laughing and talking. Daniel was reddening with barely suppressed laughter as he related to them a story of a past Archaeological mission involving Balinsky,

"… and naturally, the Jaffa word for 'water' just _had_ to be similar to the word for 'sex'… so he went up to Rak'nor and asks…"

His friends looked surprised across the board at the taboo word spoken by him, and he reddened further, hitching his glasses up as he continued, "… he asks for what he thinks is water and Rak'nor shoots him a really weird look before going to Bra'tac and saying that Balinsky's a 'sum'ac' which loosely means 'homosexual'… the next thing we know, Rak'nor's leading this rather awkward looking Jaffa over, who looks Balinsky up and down, rating him before calling him a 'hasshak'. He then does this little shrugging thing and then proceeds to undress him. Poor Balinsky's trying to be polite and then he calls out 'Doctor Jackson! Um… I think I said something wrong!'"

Daniel erupted into laughter as he hid his face with his hands, and as Sam looked bemused, Vala intrigued, Jack asked, "When did this happen?"

Daniel stopped laughing, and was about to reply when he started laughing again as most of his friends looked confused. When Teal'c didn't, the Jacks and Cam looked at him, Jonas asking, "Teal'c?"

Teal'c replied, smiling slightly, "Bra'tac still fondly remembers that particular encounter with DoctorBalinsky, and he frequently mentions it over Shen'tac."

Cassie asked as Daniel tried to stop himself from laughing, only to start up all over again, "What's Shen'tac?"

Vala replied, "Jaffa whiskey. I think Cameron would refer to it as 'moonshine' with its visually-impairing qualities, but there's no alcohol in it."

The Jacks said in unison, resulting in confused glances from the others, "Rot gut."

When Daniel had calmed down, still chuckling softly occasionally, Sam said, bemused as she touched his knee, "You never mentioned anything about that mission before."

Jack added, "I second that... c'mon, even T knows about it, although to be fair he knows everything before it happens."

Teal'c smirked, and Cam asked, confused, "When did it happen?"

Daniel replied, his eyes bright with laughter, "Oh, um, last year during the Archaeological survey of P4X-101."

By the end of the sentence, he had met Sam's gaze, and she was surprised, albeit pleasantly, at how much younger he looked when he laughed properly. Vala remarked, glancing at Cam,

"I would have thought that you would have mentioned something to Samantha about it seeing as you two are a lot closer these days."

Sam looked at Daniel meaningfully, mirth beneath the surface, and he said, embarrassed, "I forgot."

She squeezed his knee and noticed much to her suppressed amusement that Cassie was glaring intermittently at the ex-thief. Suddenly Cassie asked, looking upset,

"May I be excused?"

As everyone looked at her in surprise, Sam said, "Sure... Cassie, are you ok?"

Cassie bit her lip and mumbled quietly as she got up, almost running from the kitchen in the direction of the lounge and then the staircase, "Probably."

A confused silence descended on the group before mini-Jack remarked, "It's probably a lady thing."

The men looked awkward as Vala smirked, the ex-thief saying, "I'll go and see what the fuss is about... you know, me being an alien too..."

Sam, wincing as she slowly got up, said, "No, I'll do it..."

Daniel looked up at her worried, Cam asking, "Are you sure?"

Sam nodded and replied, "She'll get embarrassed if any of you guys go up... I won't be long."

Daniel asked, concerned, "Do you want me to go with you?"

Sam shook her head, smiling slightly as she replied, "I'll be fine."

She leant down to kiss him on the cheek as most of their friends cheered suggestively, and she left, her hand on her back as she went to look for the young Frasier.

When she eventually made it to the first floor, she saw that the bathroom light was on and she heard, much to her increasing concern, the sound of sniffling. She called,

"Cassie, are you ok?"

Cassie called back, her voice muffled, "Yes."

The door opened, and the younger woman appeared, her eyes red-rimmed, and Sam said, her worry growing, "You're not. You're a terrible liar just like Daniel is. Come on, what is it? Let's go in my room first though - my ankles are going to swell."

Sitting down on her bed, Sam asked as Cassie sat next to her, clutching a pillow, "Cassie?"

Cassie replied quietly, her gaze downcast, "Vala's annoying."

Sam asked, confused, "Why would you be annoyed at... Oh."

Sam smirked as she realised what she had realised, and she remarked, "You've got a crush on Cam, haven't you? Oh honey..."

She pulled the younger woman into a hug, whispering against her hair, "He's not worth it. He's one of my best friends, I know, but he is so not worth it. You can do a lot better than him. He's nearly thirty-seven, and you're twenty-one."

After a moment, Cassie whispered, "I'm sorry."

Sam dried the younger woman's tears, replying, "Don't be. You should be able to this in front of me. God knows you've done it before. You can never be too old to cry in front of me..."

She added with a grin, "Now... how would you like to stay up with me and Daniel, and a lot of ice cream as we heap scorn on... ooh, Independence Day?"

Cassie looked a little uncertain, and Sam replied, "He's a good man, Cass - you know that, and he's different from other guys. Are you in? It'll be fun."

Cassie grinned at her, nodding in assent, and Sam smiled back at her, saying, "Now come on, let's go and sit through one of the General's shaggy dog stories."

The two women made their way downstairs, taking their seats once more, and Jack asked, looking at Cassie, "You ok?"

Cassie nodded and replied quietly, "Yes, thank you."

Vala remarked, resulting in many red men, "Told you. The menstrual cycle is an intriguing concept."

Cam cleared his throat in embarrassment as the Jacks looked increasingly awkward, Jonas and Daniel reddening profusely, Teal'c the only man able to remain _visibly_ unaffected. Cassie shot the ex-thief a look that was close to one of Janet's killer glares, which amused Jack to no end.

Daniel glanced at Sam who smiled at him, and he said, glancing at Jonas, "Jonas was just saying that all the nations on Langara have voted unanimously to destroy all of their nuclear weapons."

Sam, her eyes moistening with tears as the Jacks glared at a helpless Jonas, replied as Daniel placed a hand over hers, "It's about time."

Jack remarked, "That's an understatement. What did it take, someone else giving their life for your people, only to have them advertising him as a traitor?!"

Jonas, feeling a little overwhelmed at the glares from the Jacks, replied, "General..."

Daniel shook his head, shooting the Jacks a meaningful look as he said, "It's ok Jonas - they shouldn't be accusing you because it wasn't your fault. Heck, if the opportunity arose, I'd do it again."

The Jacks, Cam and Sam said in unison, resulting in some spooked laughter, "Like hell you will."

Teal'c added, "I too share that opinion wholeheartedly."

Vala remarked, impersonating Teal'c, "As do I, DanielJackson."

Sam gazed at Daniel and said, "If you ever die on us again, I'm personally going to drag your ass back through the 'gate, kicking and screaming if I have to."

Everyone looked at him as he replied, almost choking on emotion as he squeezed her hand, "That's a scary threat."

Cassie said, looking at him meaningfully, "She means every word."

He nodded, still gazing at Sam as he said softly, "I know."


	42. Alien

Later that night, with Jonas, mini-Jack, Cam and Teal'c in the spare room, Cassie sat in between Sam and Daniel, their backs resting against the bottom of the couch in the dark as they watched Independence Day, ice cream in front of them. Sam said, glancing past Cassie to Daniel,

"Daniel alluded to this movie in a briefing with the then Senator Kinsey."

Cassie, surprised, turned to look at Daniel, asking, "When was this?"

Daniel replied with a shrug, hitching his glasses up as he smiled slightly, "A few months after we found you. The _good_ Senator was trying to shut the programme down and was harping on about the power and might of the US military, so I asked him if he was going to upload a virus to the mothership."

Cassie, amused, remarked, "What I would do to see that guy's face."

Sam replied, "Ah, that man was a big poopy-pants."

Cassie and Daniel laughed quietly, mindful of their friends upstairs, and Cassie asked, "Poopy-pants?!"

Sam said with a smug expression, "Well, my Junior's not going to be a potty-mouth. Daniel's is going to be translating that into thirty languages before he's out of diapers."

Cassie looked at Daniel meaningfully, remarking, "You're not going to let her get away with that now, are you?"

Sam, feigning annoyance, muttered as she nudged the younger woman, "Traitor."

Daniel asked, glancing over at Sam as he feigned indignation, "Oh, so now not only is my Junior going to be a potty-mouth, he's going to be a multi-lingual potty-mouth?!"

Sam poked her tongue out at him, and the three of them started laughing, their laughter intensifying on seeing a geeked out Brent Spiner traipsing across the screen. Sam remarked, amused,

"Ah well, what else would I expect from an Archaeologist, Linguist, Philologist... Chocologist..."

As Cassie looked confused, Sam explained, "Chocology - it's Daniel's new degree from eating so much chocolate."

Cassie remarked wistfully, "Ah, if only I could get my degree just by eating chocolate..."

Daniel asked, "When have you go to go back?"

"Oh, after your babies are born..."

Sam said, concerned, "You don't have to do that."

"Dean said it would be ok as long as I got ahead, so I did. I got three months ahead and he authorised the leave."

They both hugged the younger woman, thanking her, and Sam said quietly, "Your Mom would be so proud of you."

Cassie chewed her lip, replying, "I hope so."

Daniel said, attempting to lighten the mood as he held her hand, placing it on her abdomen, "Of course she will be... being three months ahead of your work, hanging out with your two pregnant friends... watching Independence Day..."

She yelped in surprise on feeling Jackson Junior kicking, and Sam, grinning, placed her other hand on her bump, and Cassie said, spooked, "I'm all for new life an' all, but that is just so creepy. It just reminded me of Alien... Oh no..."

Feigning horror, she added, "Your babies aren't going to burst out, are they?!"

Sam and Daniel looked at the younger woman, amused, the latter remarking, "I don't believe anyone suggested that yet... You're unique - congratulations."

Cassie remarked, hand on hip, "Daniel, I'm unique anyway."

Sam retorted, smiling at her affectionately, "True, but how many aliens do we know that have an extensive cultural knowledge such as yourself... especially seeing as you're from Toronto?"

The three of them started laughing, the sound resulting in their friends joining them, the four men having spent hours talking instead of sleeping.


	43. Labour

A couple of months later, the two scientists asleep, their hands resting on each other's hips, Daniel woke up with a gasp, half sitting up as he clutched his now larger abdomen in pain, breathing heavily. Sam woke up and asked, concerned as she sat up too, holding him as best she could,

"Daniel?"

His eyes closed, breathing heavily, he replied as he leant into her embrace, "I think Junior's coming."

Shocked and surprised, she asked, "Are you sure? It could be gas again."

He shook his head, very obviously in pain as he said, "Oh no, _this_ is real... agh."

She called for Cam, the Colonel running into the room soon afterwards. He took one look at the Archaeologist and grabbed the bedside phone, dialling a number and saying into it as Jack wandered into the room, quietly comforting a terrified Cassie who then went to comfort Daniel,

"Doc, Jackson's going Alien."

Sam asked, worried as Daniel grimaced in pain, Cassie holding on of his hands as Jack came to comfort his friend, "How are we going to get on base without the patrolmen seeing Daniel like this?"

As the Archaeologist cried out in pain, she brushed her lips across his temple, whispering reassurances to him as she, Jack and Cassie held him, Jack replied, reaching into his pocket, "I've called in a marker..."

Daniel's eyes opened as Jack pulled a small black device from his trouser pocket, and he asked, looking up at his friend, breathing heavily, "Jack?"

Cassie and Cam looked at the General, confused, as Sam asked, recognising the technology, "The Asgard?"

A few seconds later, their surroundings markedly different and strongly resembling the SGC's Infirmary, Jack remarked, "Yasureyabetcha. Thor owes me a few favours."

Daniel, groaning with pain as Carmichael and Warner, who had been standing with Lam and Brightman, ready, began to prepare him for a C-section, said with a brief smile, his brow sweaty as Sam held his hand, "More than a few, Jack."

As Cam, embarrassed at being in his boxers, ran out of the Infirmary for trousers, almost bumping into Jonas, Vala and Teal'c as they came into the Infirmary to see their friend, Jack smoothed Daniel's forehead as the younger man gazed up at him, and he said quietly with a smile tinged with worry as well as fondness, "Hang in there Dannyboy."

Lam said, glancing at the sizeable party joined by a trousered Cam, "Right, everyone who isn't a Doctor or owner of half of this baby's chromosomes, go to the observation room so the Doctors can do their work."

Jack, snapping into action as he wished Daniel good luck, said to the gathered personnel who were admittedly reluctant to leave as he slowly advanced towards them, "Right folks, you heard the Doc -- out. We can get ringside seats."

Shepherding his friends out, he called over his shoulder to Sam, "Carter, prepare to get your hand broken."

Teal'c added with a distant smile as he remembered Drey'auc in the throes of labour, Jaffa-style, "Indeed."

Jack asked as he clapped him on the shoulder, Cassie looking half-scared and half-curious, "How many bones?"

"All of them... and two iron bars of a similar width to my forearms."

Jack raised his eyebrows, the only indication of his downright shock, and Cam asked, throwing his other friends a worried glance, "Seriously?!"

Vala remarked as he slipped an arm around her waist, "We're talking about Teal'c's wife, aren't we? My, I once knew of a female Jaffa who took part in a battle whilst in labour."

As most of the rest winced, Jonas looking curious, Teal'c remarked with a slight smile, "You are referring to Atala, a notable participant of the Battle of Calydon. She was the first female Jaffa of Moloc to turn against him."

Jonas' face lit up as he said, the others looking at him confusion, "Atala… Atalanta… she's in Greek mythology! She's, ah, the great female athlete who took part in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar, and she was awarded the pelt by the winner, much to his Uncles' annoyance. She later married Hippomenes when he beat her in a footrace, and then they were both turned into lions by an angry Zeus for... uh, desecrating his temple..."

His blush gave the true meaning of his words away as they arrived in the observation room, and he continued, "But some sources say that she had a son called Parthenopaeus who took part in the 'Seven against Thebes'..."

Jack remarked as Teal'c smiled a little more, "Ok... I know Daniel is out of action now, but did you really have to make up for him?"

Cam and Vala smiled at Jonas, who shrugged, and Teal'c replied, his smile fading as their attention was drawn to their friend lying in the Infirmary below, "I am sure that DanielJackson would surpass the lunar globe."

As Jonas and Vala looked increasingly amused, Jack and Cam glared at the Jaffa, the latter saying, "'over the moon'... it's 'over the moon', T."

Teal'c's slight smile gave it away, and Jack remarked, his arm around Teal'c's shoulders, before their attention was drawn again to a pained Daniel, "I miss you, big guy."


	44. More Labour

Daniel, breathing heavily as the pain grew in intensity despite the painkillers that he had been dosed up with, gazed up at Sam as he was being prepared, and he said as she smoothed his brow, "I hope he's ok - it's a little early."

As he replied 'no' when Warner asked if he could feel the surgeon's scalpel poking his bared abdomen, Sam kissed Daniel's forehead, whispering as she followed his gaze down to his abdomen as a still spooked Warner made his first incision, "He'll be fine - he's a Jackson."

Daniel squeezed her hand and Brightman, curious more than anything, asked, "How do you feel, Doctor Jackson?"

Daniel replied, his eyes closed as the contractions grew closer, his hand squeezing Sam's, "Like a scene from Alien."

Sam, Brightman, Lam and Carmichael all smiled briefly at the movie reference, Warner's entire concentration on his task, determined to keep the Archaeologist alive no matter what. Suddenly, everyone could hear a brief rush of water, and as everyone looked around for the source, Sam gasped, her other hand instinctively going to her bump as her eyes closed.

Cam called from the observation room via a microphone, "Whoa, Sam's leaking!"

The Colonel, Teal'c, and Jack ran into the Infirmary to help Lam and Brightman pick Sam up, no nurses being present due to the secret nature of Daniel's pregnancy, and Daniel called, scared as he looked at Sam, "Sam?"

Sam whimpered in pain as Teal'c picked her up in his arms, the female Doctors preparing a bed for her, and Jack remarked, trying very hard to keep it together for everyone's sakes, "Carter, you really do have amazing timing!"

Teal'c said, his eyebrow raised as he placed a now crying Sam down onto the newly prepared bed, "This is the correct place for such a situation to develop. Fear not, O'Neill."

Cam held Sam's hand as she cried out in pain, Brightman preparing the delivery end as Lam shooed everyone else out, and Jack ran his fingers through his cropped hair before deciding to go and calm an almost hysterical looking Cassie. Vala called via a microphone from the observation room,

"Do you need me?"

Teal'c replied as Cam looked up at his girlfriend, "I will stay with DanielJackson."

Vala raised her eyebrows briefly and went back to trying to reassure a distraught Cassie, whose face was buried in Jack's shoulder as he soothed her, Jonas reaching over to smooth her hair periodically.

As Sam whimpered in pain, Daniel asked, grimacing at his own pain, looking up at Teal'c who had taken to holding his hand, "Teal'c?"

Teal'c replied, glancing across at a panting Sam, "ColonelCarter has begun the birthing process."

Daniel, looking very worried, tried to sit up, forgetting about Warner operating on him, but the Jaffa held him down as Carmichael called, Warner stopping his work as a precautionary measure, "Doctor Jackson, you're really going to have to stay down. The Colonel's going to be fine - Doctor Brightman's presiding over her."

Lam called as she administered more painkillers to the still gasping Colonel, "You're both going to be fine, don't worry."

Daniel, his eyes closed as he tried to focus on his breathing, called over to Sam, "Sam -- good luck."

Crying out in pain as contraction after contraction hit her, she replied in a whimper, "You too Daniel..."

Cam smoothed her hand with his other one, wincing at the pain as she squeezed the hand holding hers, and he said, "Sam, you're gonna be fine."

Sam remarked quietly, whimpering in pain, "Easy for you to say."

Cam smiled at her, replying, "Well, you're lucky one way - Jackson is gonna break T's hand instead of yours, and I'm gonna get a broken hand instead of Jackson. Cool, huh? We're all in pain tonight."

Lam chuckled softly, remarking, "Ah yes, but the Colonel and the Doctor's pain will be far worse than broken bones."

Brightman added with a smile, "You bet, but it's all going to be worth it."

Daniel remarked, breathing heavily, "I hope so."

Just then, Warner had opened enough of Daniel's abdomen to see the ruptured amniotic sac, and as Carmichael vacuumed all of the superfluous fluid out, the two Doctors gazed in amazement at the unborn baby moving inside the placenta. The remainder of SG-1, Jack and Cassie got a look-in from their vantage point, and Lam and Brightman took turns to look at what was nothing short of a medical miracle, Teal'c too.

Warner whispered to Carmichael, gesturing with his scalpel, "We're going to have to separate the delicate blood vessels surrounding the placenta..."

Carmichael said, continuing the surgeon's thought, "... which means lifting the baby out first - we'll have to do it quick - the little man's got a foot tangled in the Doctor's intestines..."

As they went about carefully removing the baby, Carmichael said, looking at Daniel between helping Warner, "We're going to take your baby out now, Doctor Jackson. We're going to have to separate the blood vessels surrounding your placenta as it won't come out the normal way, of course."

Daniel grimaced as the baby's foot moved about a little more, and he asked, Teal'c holding his hand and reassuring him with his silent presence, "Is he ok?"

Carmichael replied with a brief smile as he and Warner prepared to lift the baby out, "He's fine."

Daniel closed his eyes and whispered as the baby got increasingly tangled with his intestines, "How's Sam?"

Teal'c, smiling slightly as he turned to see Cam's face contort in pain, Sam gasping, and he said, turning back to Daniel, "ColonelCarter is experiencing a normal birthing process."

Teal'c's remark was punctuated by a scream of pain from the Astrophysicist, and Cam called, grimacing at the growing pain in his hand, "Hey, smile all you want, T - you got the easy one."

--------------------

Sam wept as the pain grew at the delivery end, and she closed her eyes, her body hit by contraction after contraction with incredible force, she whispered, "If I don't make it..."

Cam, shocked, shook his head and whispered back so that Daniel didn't hear, "No, don't say that - you're gonna pull through this, ok?"

She shook her head and continued, meeting his worried gaze, "I want you to take care of my little girl, Cam... god knows that I'm too old to go through this, and Daniel isn't going to manage by himself."

Tears involuntarily welling in his eyes, he held her hand with both of his and said quietly, "I promise."

She smiled through her tears at him before grimacing, the pain growing further, and he smoothed her forehead, whispering, "You're gonna be fine - you have to be."

He was about to say something else when he looked up to see, much to his surprise, Warner lift out a baby from Daniel's abdomen. He gasped quietly, and Sam asked, worried,

"Cam? What is it? Is Daniel alright?"

Cam suddenly smiled and looked across at a tired but smiling Daniel before looking down at her, "Oh, that guy is fine -- he's a Daddy... well, Mommy. You're the Daddy."

Sam frowned in confusion and then looked across to her right and gasped in surprise. Daniel gazed across at her, saying quietly, still in pain, "It's our little boy."

Just as she was about to say something, closing her eyes as another contraction hit her, then another, and another, Brightman called, glancing at Lam who immediately went to her side, "Push, Colonel..."

Sam cried out in pain as Cam held her hand, said as he looked at her, worried, "Come on Sam, you can do this. Come on. Concentrate on that breathing, and push."

Daniel called tiredly as Teal'c looked across at her, "Sam, you can do it!"

As Sam screamed while she pushed, Jack called from the observation room, remarking, "Come on Carter, don't let the side down - Daniel's had his baby already and he isn't screaming. Pfft, women..."

Daniel shot as best a withering look as he could in the General's general direction, and Sam called back, trying to be polite but failing due to the circumstances, a fiery glint in her eyes, "You try being here, Sir!"

Daniel's and Teal'c's gazes shifted to the new baby which had taken its first breath, screaming rather loudly as Carmichael performed a series of tests on it with Warner's help. Carmichael then carried the baby, wrapped in a blanket, to Daniel's bedside, handing the bundle to Teal'c, who bowed slightly in thanks as he received the baby. He held the bundle in his arms and gazed down at the squirming boy's face with a fond smile as he stroked his cheek with a finger.

Daniel gazed up at him weakly and remarked with a little smile, "You're an Uncle, Teal'c."

Teal'c replied as he carefully handed Daniel the baby, "It is an honour to be so, DanielJackson."

Daniel, mesmerised by the sight of the baby in his arms, stroked the little boy's cheek, whispering in a shaky voice, "Hello. I guess I'm your Mommy. Hi."

He looked up at Teal'c and remarked, "I must sound insane."

Teal'c simply smiled, and Carmichael said as he stepped forward to take the baby, "I'm going to put him into a cot near you so you can see him. It's not going to be safe for you to hold him while we do the work to remove your placenta."

Daniel nodded and asked, still finding the wherewithal to redden, "What about milk? I... I don't think I'm going to lactate."

Carmichael smiled slightly and replied as he gently laid the baby down in a nearby cot before reaching for an already prepared baby bottle in a cupboard, "I was expecting that... Don't worry. This will do for now, but I think that he'll be having a drink from the Colonel... Doctor Brightman mentioned that she had more milk ducts than normal pregnant women."

Daniel blushed as Teal'c smiled slightly, the Doctor feeding the baby, and Warner said, almost drowned out by the screams from Sam, "Doctor Jackson, would you rather be unconscious for this? This could take a while."

Daniel shook his head without hesitation, replying as he glanced across at Sam, "No, I don't want to miss my daughter coming into the world."

As Warner went about separating blood vessels, Carmichael disinfecting his hands once he had finished feeding the now sleeping baby, Daniel called over to a rather vocal Sam, "Sam, you're doing great."

Daniel kept his attention on a screaming Sam despite his mind feeling as though it was out for a swim because of the level of painkillers in his system, and he and Teal'c, as well as the rest of their friends, watched with bated breath as Brightman, Lam wiping the Doctor's sweat with a towel, called,

"Colonel, you're doing fantastic. Just one more big push."

Both Warner and Carmichael smirked briefly on remembering their own wives as Sam steeled herself, screaming, and crushing Cam's hand in the process as she gave her all in that single push, feeling as though her lower abdomen was about to completely detach itself. Cam felt as though he wanted to cry as his hand compressed to inhuman proportions, and he said as Daniel gradually began to grow more and more drowsy,

"Go on Sam."

Sam flopped back onto the bed, exhausted and pouring with sweat as Cam, grinning tiredly, patted their connected hands with his uninjured one, whispered as he looked across at the delivery end where the two Doctors were working on the baby, "I can't believe my Mom did this four times..."

He met her gaze and said, unable to stop smiling, "You did great... more than great."

She smiled weakly and remarked quietly, "You would say that."

Daniel called, forcing himself to stay cogent, "Sam, you were amazing."

Tears in her eyes, she turned slightly so that she could see him, and she retorted, still smiling, "You took the easy way out."

Cam gently let go of Sam's hand, and when she back at him, he replied, walking away to the end of the bed, "I'll be right back, Sam."

Her gaze moved to the end of the bed where Brightman wrapped the screaming baby in a blanket, handing it to Cam with a smile as she said, turning to Sam, "Congratulations, Colonel - it's a girl."

Sam nodded, feeling too weak to speak and her eyes followed a beaming Cam, carrying a precious bundle in his arms. As their friends watched from the observation room, cheering, and Daniel and Teal'c from where they were, Cam gazed down at the now calmer baby in his arms and whispered, stroking her cheek,

"Hey there. I'm your Uncle Cam..."

He grinned as he looked at Sam, and said, handing the baby to her, "... and this exhausted albeit vocal lady is your Momma."

Lam elevated the head of the bed so that Sam was almost sitting up, and the Colonel held the baby in her arms, gazing down at her, overcome with emotion. As Daniel watched, she met his gaze and said,

"It's our little girl..."

He nodded, smiling, and remarked drowsily, "Quite the proud parents we are... I wonder if I'll still remember after the drugs wear off..."


	45. Names Part II

A few hours later, both Sam and Daniel lay in an isolation room in parallel beds, thoroughly exhausted after their respective ordeals, their babies in a separate area. However, due to spending almost every night together for the past thirty-seven weeks, they were unable to sleep in their separate beds. Instead, they took to gazing at each other, talking briefly when they had amassed enough energy.

She whispered as she watched him close his eyes, knowing that he wasn't sleeping, "It's surreal."

"Hmm, it is... We're parents after one, uh, encounter off-world despite birth control and perceived sterility, and..."

He grinned weakly and continued, "... we got together along the way."

She smiled back at him, replying, "We sure did."

She added, a cheeky expression on her face, "So... do you want to come over?"

He retorted, his eyebrows raised, "I was operated on!"

"Well, I've got stitches!"

"I was operated on for several hours!"

"I was stretched for several hours!"

They laughed at their slanging match, and she remarked, wincing as she sat up, "Ah, you win... we're not going to be able to sleep otherwise. You might ascend but I probably won't."

Shocked at her sitting up, he said, "Whoa, no, Sam -- I'll do it."

Still wincing as she sat over the edge of the bed, holding the edge, "Don't be silly - you've just had major surgery."

"But you've been stretched!"

"Ah, don't remind me..."

Focussing on not falling over, she half closed her eyes as she slowly made her way to his bed, as he said, getting ready to help her if she fell, "We could have got someone to move our beds closer..."

She remarked as she joined him under the covers, his arm going around her waist as he held her close, her hand pulling the covers over them both, "Yeah, and have the General making dirty jokes... I'm fine anyway..."

They both smiled at the familiar warmth of each other's bodies, and she said as she smoothed his stomach through the t-shirt of his scrubs, "I bet you've got a scar to match your appendectomy one..."

He smiled as he kissed her forehead, whispering, "Yep, twins..."

She reached a hand under his t-shirt, stroking his lower back, and she asked, realising where she had to look, "Daniel?"

He remarked, his eyes twinkling as he understood exactly what she had meant, "Go ahead - you're not going to jump me now."

She chuckled softly before reaching down between them, under the trousers of his scrubs to lower the waistband of his boxers, and she gently eased the bandage up to see a freshly stitched scar under a fainter, healed one. She lightly traced the fresher scar, and he hissed inwardly, saying as he gently moved her hand away, wincing,

"Ah... you might not want to do for a while..."

Her hand went back to stroking his back, and he remarked with a cheekily innocent expression as his own hand ran over her hip, "Have you thought of any names? You are the father of my baby after all..."

She laughed quietly, retorting, "Yes, and I want dinner by five o'clock!"

He smiled against her neck as he held her closer, and she replied with a little sigh, "I got a couple in mind..."

She whispered in his ear before asking, "What about you?"

"Funnily enough..."

He proceeded to whisper in her ear, and she remarked as she closed her eyes, snuggling up to him, "Oh yeah, that man is going to be one happy camper."

He planted a kiss on her forehead, whispering as he closed his eyes, "Without a doubt."


	46. A Gathering

Later on, their friends, and Generals Hammond and Landry paid them a visit to congratulate them, after a breastfeeding spell which resulted in one very red albeit equally intrigued Daniel. Jack, holding the baby boy as Hammond held the little girl, remarked as he looked down at his baby,

"I'm telling ya -- this one's a Carter alright."

As Sam and Daniel, still tired but excited, smiled, he showed the baby around to his friends, resulting in an 'indeed' from Teal'c, and Hammond fondly gazed at the baby, saying, "You're right, Jack - he looks like Sam did..."

Cam, grinning as Hammond handed him the little girl, remarked, "All wrinkly and squirmy..."

Sam laughed as Daniel raised his eyebrows mirthfully, and Vala said as she peered at the baby that Cam was holding, "Well, in that case, this little girl easily looks like Daniel... I'm telling you, she'll get his eyes."

Teal'c remarked, resulting in a few bemused smiles and snickers, "If DanielJackson's effect on the female population of the galaxy is an adequate determinant, she will cause the heart failures of a great many men in her time."

The proud parents exchanged an odd look, Daniel blushing as Jack smiled proudly at Teal'c, saying to a bemused Hammond and Landry, "Y'see, funniest man in the galaxy - he should have his own sketch show... I can just see it now..."

As everyone watched in bemusement, he continued with a sweeping movement of one arm, securely holding the baby as Jonas kept a watchful eye on the infant, in the crook of his other arm, "Teal'cfeld... or Saturday Night Teal'c... Or... or, Monty Teal'c."

Teal'c looked at Jack, his expression emotionless, softening momentarily as the little girl was placed in his arms by Cam who was shaking his head in silent laughter, and the Jaffa said, shooting Jack a whithering look, "This infant greatly resembles DanielJackson, and O'Neill is of a delusional nature."

Jack continued smiling at Teal'c, everyone else laughing, and Cassie remarked as Teal'c handed her the girl, "Ah, I see what you mean... Wow, if Daniel's anything to go by, she's going to be cuter than cute."

This resulted in a very red Archaeologist as everyone, including Sam, turned to grin at him, and Cam asked the parents as the little boy did the rounds, the Colonel handing him to Landry, "So... you guys chosen any names yet?"

Sam and Daniel exchanged a look before the former said, Daniel holding her hand, his fingers interlaced with hers, "Cameron Janet, and..."

She looked at Daniel who said, both of them joining everyone else in looking at a very shocked Cam, "James Cameron Carter-Jackson."

As a shell-shocked Cam was patted on the back, Jack said, grinning down at the little girl in his arms, "You and your little brother have names now... Cameron. I hope we don't call you Mitchell by mistake... although you don't have an annoying accent or that evil glare... Hmm, if your Daddy's anything to go by, you'll even make Teal'c run for the hills when you get pis... ah, angry..."

Cam momentarily glared at the General, mindful of three personnel who outranked him, as Daniel raised his eyebrows at Jack's sense of humour, before the Colonel said to his friends, Vala beaming at him as she wrapped her arms around his waist, "Thanks you guys, but you really didn't have to do that. I was cool with you guys naming them after your parents."

Sam replied, glancing at Daniel, "Don't be silly, Cam. You've done so much these past eight months - more than anyone. This is a 'thank you' gift, and quite frankly, this doesn't cover it."

Daniel added, smiling, "You were great Mitchell. Thank you."

Cam, fighting the tears welling his eyes, replied, embarrassed as he hung his head, "Aw shucks, you guys..."


	47. Family

_Lyrics featured are John Denver's For Baby (For Bobbie)_

_--------------------_

Roughly a week later, Sam stood at the window of the Nursery back home one night, tracing the shape of the crescent moon as she looked up, and she whispered, the 'twins' asleep in cribs behind her, "I wish you were here Dad... you're a grandfather again..."

She sighed right before she felt familiar arms encircle her waist, an equally familiar warmth behind her, and she turned around, leaning her head on his chest, and Daniel said, tenderly kissing her forehead, "I'm sure Jacob's grinning wherever he is..."

A sudden flash of white light followed by a strangely familiar voice made them turn around to see none other than a glowing Jacob, illuminated by a white light from an unseen source, who said, grinning, "Oh you bet I am... I leave you for a couple of years after wishing like hell that you'd see the light, and look at what you go and do with yourselves!"

Sam, paralysed with fear as Daniel's grip tightened to reassure her of his presence, said, gasping in shock, "Dad?"

"In the flesh... uh, well, not quite..."

Daniel asked, frowning in confusion, "You ascended?"

Jacob replied, looking at Sam, "You know for a genius, he's quite slow."

He met Daniel's gaze and continued, "You arranged for Oma to ascend me right before she got tied up with Anubis, and right before you did your little descension... I'm telling you, I would have paid to have been there..."

Sam gazed up at an equally stunned Daniel and asked, "You ascended Dad?"

He shook his head and looked at Jacob, still confused as he said, "I remember everything that happened that last time - all of it."

Jacob grimaced a little before replying, "Ah, no, not quite. Oma wiped your memory of that itty bitty thing because you weren't supposed to know that I was dying... It's an Ancient thing. So... how are you doing, kids?"

Sam held Daniel tighter, still shocked as she replied, "We're fine, Dad..."

"Eating well and..."

Daniel smirked as Sam exclaimed, "Dad?! We're not idiots."

Jacob said with a shrug, grinning near the end, "Hey, someone's gotta look out for my daughter, her boyfriend and their little kiddies. Man, I'm a grandpa again. Doesn't get old. Nope, no it doesn't..."

Daniel asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Just dropping in to see you, oh, and Mark's coming to see you next week... I think you had better get your stories straight about... all this. He's an Uncle after all..."

Sam nodded against Daniel's chest, and Jacob said with a clap of his hands before taking one last look at the still sleeping babies, "Anyway, I've got to go and... do... some Ancient stuff."

Daniel asked, glancing down at Sam, "Aren't you staying longer?"

"Ah, no, you know about the whole non-interference thingy... I could be sweeping sidewalks and pruning bushes just for this... Take care of yourselves, and you will definitely see me around... _definitely_... And, Daniel?"

Daniel looked at Jacob, and the elder Carter winked, saying, "Take care of my little Sammy."

Daniel nodded as Sam was too stunned to protest, and Jacob said with a sigh, "Alright, visiting hours are over. See you guys soon. Fare thee well..."

In a flash of white light, Jacob vanished, the room falling into darkness once more, illuminated only by the minimal light of the moon, and Sam asked, shell-shocked, "Daniel?"

Daniel, knowing what was running through her mind, remarked as he rested his chin on the top of her head, exhaling, "Oh yes. That either really happened, or we're both crazy."

She smiled against his chest and asked, suddenly worried, "What are we going to tell Mark?"

He shrugged slightly and replied, kissing the top of her head, "That we made some babies and we love them more than anything. If he doesn't like it, it doesn't matter."

"At least Dad's happy."

She looked up at him, her face illuminated by the light of the moon, and he gently lowered his lips to hers, tenderly kissing her as her arms slipped around his shoulders. They parted, their love for each other, even in the minimal light, reflected in each other's eyes, and he asked with a little smile as he lifted a golden strand of long hair,

"When are you getting it cut?"

She followed his gaze and replied, her expression wistful, "When I get all of this weight off... It'll be a few months yet."

He kissed her neck, whispering, "I'm in no hurry."

She chuckled softly and remarked, "I'm glad you don't have to cut your hair, although Cam did that a lot to make sure you didn't look like... how did he say it... oh, Problem Child..."

They laughed quietly at yet another movie reference, and he said quietly, "I don't think Problem Child had glasses."

"His girlfriend in the second film did."

He pouted, remarking with feigned indignation, "Are you trying to say something?"

She grinned back at him, retorting, "Don't buy that look for a second..."

They hugged each other, and he said with a sigh, "We're going to have to have that little talk we mentioned all those months back..."

He continued as his fingers tenderly traced the line of her jaw, his eyes searching hers, "I'll be here for as long as you want me, Sam."

She held on to him, saying, her voice muffled by his shoulder, "I don't want you to ever go, Daniel - ever. I love you."

His voice wavering as he held her tighter, he whispered, "Me too - I love you too."

Just then the babies behind them began to whimper, the whimpers gradually increasing into cries as they awoke. She whispered as they approached the cribs,

"I think they're pissed... we fed them right before _Grandpa_ showed up."

After checking nappies and temperatures, he whispered back, "I think you're right."

She smiled at him as he picked up James, placing him next to his sister in her crib, and with his arm around Sam, his hand gently smoothing her lower back, and he quietly sang, Sam eventually joining in when she recognised the song as the cries began to die down,

_"I'll walk in the rain by your side,__  
__I'll cling to the warmth of your hand,__  
__I'll do anything to keep you satisfied,__  
__I'll love you more than anybody can _

_And the wind will whisper your name to me,  
Little birds will sing along in time,  
And trees will bow down when you walk by,  
And morning bells will chime_

_I'll be there when you're feeling down,  
Kiss away the tears when you cry,  
I'll give to you all the happiness I've found,  
A reflection of the love in your eyes_

_And the wind will whisper your name to me,  
Little birds will sing along in time,  
And trees will bow down when you walk by,  
And morning bells will chime..."_

The 'twins' had fallen asleep, looking calmer than they had been, and she smiled at him, remarking quietly, "Quite the singing voice you have."

He gently kissed her as they partially straightened up, stil holding onto the railing of the crib as they continued to look down at their babies, and he replied, "I think I'm going to enjoy being a Mommy and a Daddy."

She laughed as quietly as possibly, remarking, "Me too."

He bit his lip to stop laughing out loud, and they both heard Cassie whisper from the doorway, "Are my little godchildren ok?"

Sam and Daniel smiled as they moved apart, the latter whispering back as he gestured for her to come forward, "Of course they are - come and have a look."

The scientists' arms around the Hankan, the three of them gazed down at the sleeping babies, the younger woman whispering as everyone smiled, "Oh, those kids are gonna be so cute..."


	48. Mark Carter

One afternoon, SG-1, Jack mini-Jack and Cassie out in the back garden with the babies, Cam was fetching something from upstairs when there was a knock on the door. Frowning slightly, he quickly ran down the remaining stairs, opening the door to see a well-heeled albeit startlingly familiar fair-haired man, holding a box of doughnuts. The man, confused on seeing Cam, stepped back a little to look at the front of the house, and suddenly Cam realised who it was. Before he could say something, the man asked, looking back at him,

"I've probably got the wrong house... Do you know where Colonel Sam Carter lives?"

Cam grinned as his realisations were almost confirmed, and he replied, holding out his hand by the end, "I know where she lives - here. Sam's out back with Jackson and the gang. I thought I recognised you - you're Sam's brother, aren't you? I'm Cameron Mitchell, her CO."

The man took the proferred hand, saying with a look tinged with wariness, "Mark Carter, Attorney."

As Cam invited him in, helping him out of his coat, Mark asked, "Air Force?"

Cam nodded and replied, "Yep, L T Colonel. Stationed at Cheyenne Mountain."

Mark frowned and said as he picked up his box of doughnuts again, "You don't look like a scientist. Sam works for Deep Space Radar Telemetry there."

"Ah, well, I'm just stationed there. We're a Special Forces team."

"Ah, say no more... hush-hush, I guess?"

"That's a way of putting it."

Vala intercepted them as they walked through the lounge, and she said, looking surprised on seeing Mark, "Oh! He looks just like Samantha!"

Mark smiled slightly at her in greeting before continuing through to the kitchen, and Cam, grabbing Vala's elbow, whispered in her ear, "It's her brother."

"Ah... right... That is a development..."

Cam caught up with Mark as he placed his box down on the kitchen table on seeing Cassie filling a jug of juice. Cassie grinned and said as she hugged him,

"Mark! How're you doing?"

Mark smiled back, replying as she stepped back, "Hello Cassie. Where's my enigmatic sister? I haven't heard from her in a while..."

Cassie, hiding her growing trepidation, said with a carefree grin as she carried the jug out through the back hallway and out of the back door, "Ah, follow me - you've got a big, big surprise."

Mark asked as he followed, frowning, "How big?"

Cam remarked as Vala barely suppressed a grin, "Bigger than the Appalachians."

Cassie quickly joined her friends, Sam and Daniel gazing at their babies as they lay, flanking them while the rest of their friends played Poker and/or talked and laughed loudly. Cassie whispered to them as she sat behind Daniel,

"Heads up - Mark's here."

The scientists instantly looked shocked, and they exchanged a panicked look before sitting up as a bemused Mark approached, scratching the back of his head as he said, "Hey Sam, I haven't heard from you in..."

He trailed off and practically gaped on noticing her longer hair and the extra weight, and his eyes moved to the babies behind her and Daniel as Cassie and mini-Jack held them, the rest of their friends moving a safe distance away from them. One plus one suddenly equalled four, and he remarked, shocked as Sam and Daniel exchanged a little look,

"Please do not tell me that you had babies and you didn't tell me anything!"

He ran his fingers through his hair as he noticed that Sam wasn't denying anything, and he asked, looking at her, "Why, Sam? Why didn't you say anything? I... I am an Uncle after all, and..."

He sighed, waiting for her answer, and she replied, Daniel reaching for hand, their fingers interlaced as she related the agreed-upon cover story, "We couldn't tell you, Mark because it happened suddenly. We were on a mission in Papua New Guinea when we were held captive by a tribe who... who beat us and made us do things..."

She continued, holding up her t-shirt briefly so that he could see her scarred stomach, "It doesn't hurt any more - it's mostly scarring, but that's why we couldn't tell you. We're sorry."

Mark looked at Sam and then Daniel next to her, and he noticed their hands. He suddenly smiled and said, "I guess I can't stay mad... I am an Uncle after all, and you've finally found someone..."

He offered his hand to Daniel and said, the Archaeologist surprised, "Nice to meet you. Mark Carter."

Daniel shook his hand and replied, allowing himself to smile a little, "Same here. Daniel Jackson."

Suddenly surprised, Mark said, "Oh, so you're the man who Dad kept on talking about, and who Sam here was depressed about when you were missing in action back in '02!"

Daniel, embarrassed, glanced at a smiling Sam, who said, "Yep, that's him - three PhDs."

"Three? And you don't look like a geek... wow."

Daniel ducked his head briefly, and Sam asked, "Do you want to see your niece and nephew?"

"Sure. Man, I can't believe I'm an Uncle... About time... The kids are gonna be pleased to know that they've finally got some cousins."

He knelt down in the grass next to Cassie, who handed him Cammie, mini-Jack carefully handing him James, and Sam said as she and Daniel sat with him, "Cameron Janet and James Cameron Carter-Jackson."

Mark asked, glancing over at a now relaxed Cam as he played Poker with the rest, "The Southerner who answered the door?"

Daniel nodded, and Sam said, "And Cassie's Mom."

Mark smiled in acknowledgement and then down at the babies, gazing at their fair hair, and he said quietly, "Cute... Emmie's going to explode when she hears this."

Later that evening, Mark Carter left the Carter-Jackson residence with a warm smile, knowing that his sister and her boyfriend would be just fine with their peculiar albeit close-knit band of friends.


	49. A Year On

Just under a year later, SG-1, Jack, mini-Jack, Cassie and the 'twins' were gathered on a beach for the twins' first birthday. As the sun began to dip below the horizon, the rays dancing in the rippling water, a shorter haired Sam, and Daniel returned from their walk in the wet sand, each holding the hands of their babies as they helped them to walk. As they did so, Jack and Teal'c disappeared, only to return a few minutes later with a huge cake.

Daniel remarked, Cammie in his lap as Teal'c set the cake down in amongst the party, "Uncle Jack, you're spoiling them."

Jack retorted, "Don't forget Uncle Teal'c, Uncle Mitchell, Auntie Vala and the other Uncle Jack..."

As Vala beamed at being referred to as an 'Auntie', mini-Jack at his 'Unclehood', Daniel shot back, his eyebrows raised, "And Uncle Jonas."

James grinned up at Teal'c as Jonas smiled in gratitude at Daniel not snubbing him, the Jacks flashing the Kelownan odd looks. Teal'c stood James up next to the cake, saying as Cassie and Sam laughed,

"Come JamesCarterJackson, let us partake in the pleasures of cake."

Jack smiled, remarking, "You grew up so fast..."

Cam took Cammie from Daniel and said as everyone else but Teal'c, of course, laughed, "Hey, don't forget the little man's sister!"

Daniel remarked to Sam, "Come on, let's go before our babies end up in the cake."

Jack called, "Nothing like a good old fashioned cake-jumping..."

Vala looked intrigued as mini-Jack quietly guffawed, and she asked, glancing at Jonas who shrugged in confusion, "Cake-jumping?"

Daniel raised his eyebrows and looked at Jack, who replied, "I'll show you some time..."

Cam frowned slightly and said as he held Vala's hand protectively, "With all due respect Sir, take a hike. We've got kids here."

Everyone else smiled in varying degrees, and Jack retorted, "I _was_ gonna say that you show her... Sheesh, you and your dirty mind..."

Sam and Daniel got up onto their knees to stop their babies from falling into the cake, holding them around their waists with an arm, and with Sam's help, he struck a match, lighting up the candles on the cake before proceeding to complain about the inordinate amount of candles for a first birthday party. Everyone else laughed as mini-Jack retorted,

"They're lives, Dannyboy, and seeing as their related you, you little Lazarus..."

Sam glanced at Daniel in a sober moment, the Archaeologist quiet for a moment of reflection, and he gazed down at his daughter. Smiling slightly, he said,

"Come on, let's sing."

After a round of 'Happy Birthday', with the Jacks making everyone laugh with ruder lyrics, Sam and Daniel helped their babies blow the candles out, the infants making raspberry noises as Jack looked on with a proud smile, pretending to wipe away a tear. Teal'c and Jack then cut up the cake, Cam and Jonas serving up the pieces to everyone.

The Jacks made various faces on seeing Sam and Daniel feed each other cake as Teal'c fed James cake, Cam feeding Cammie, but they didn't say anything. Vala shifted up to Cam, resting her head on his shoulder as he turned to gaze at her, and they smiled at each other. She stretched up to kiss him, whispering,

"Love you."

"Right back at you. Maybe I'll make you some macaroons when we go home."

"Sweet."

Jonas almost rolled his eyes and went about teaching Cassie an old Kelownan game, involving coins and pots as mini-Jack looked on, intrigued. Even Jack looked impressed even if he didn't want to admit it.

Suddenly, Daniel whispered in Sam's ear, "Samantha?"

She smiled at him in bemusement at his use of her full name in a public setting, and he continued after a beat, "Will you do me the honour of being my wife?"

She looked stunned as she stared at him, his gaze lowering, embarrassed, attracting everyone else's attention. She looked at him, remembering how they had only come through what they had so quickly by being together, and she smiled, replying as her eyes moistened with tears,

"Yes."

Awed, he pulled her into a hug and she closed her eyes as she hugged him back, whispering again as she sniffed back her tears, "Yes. You didn't have to ask."

Cassie looked at the Jacks, Jonas and Cam, who all looked clueless, but Teal'c smiled slightly, realising what had happened. He said,

"I believe 'congratulations' are in order."

Everyone else exchanged confused looks, and Cassie asked, her hope growing, "Did what Teal'c thinks happened just happen?"

Sam and Daniel gazed at each other, smiling, before the latter said, his arm around his grinning fiancée, "Yep, we're getting married."

Jack's face almost split with the grin that spread across, and he said, clapping his hands as most of the rest cheered, "Oh yes! I'm getting some money!"

Everyone suddenly looked at him, Daniel asking cautiously, "Jack?"

Jack replied, a little bashful, "I... I may have placed a bet on you two through a friend..."

Sam asked, intrigued as Daniel flashed her a funny look, "How much, Sir?"

Noticing Daniel's look, she asked with a shrug, "What? It can't hurt to ask."

Vala looked on intrigued as Jack replied, rubbing his hands together, "Enough for you two to get married, and a _lot_ of Guinness."

As Daniel made a quiet remark about Jack's idea of 'a lot' being a brewery, Cam remarked, smiling down at Cammie, "Aren't you gonna get lynched back on base? Everyone's gonna say that you already knew."

"That's the thing - Ferretti put the bet on. We're splitting it fifty-fifty... He's the CO of SG-2 as well as part-time commander of the Odyssey so he outranks most of the base -- if they did do anything, it'll be insubordination, unless Hank's placed a bad bet, and then it'll be downright assault and battery."

Cam said quietly to his surrogate niece, "Looks like you and your brother are gonna be at your folks' wedding after all. You wanna let out a cheer or shall I?"

James shrieked with laughter as Teal'c lifted him up, bouncing him on his knee, and Cassie remarked, looking at the little boy fondly, "He'll be great as the entertainment at the wedding - he's so cheerful."

Jack retorted as Daniel shot him a glare, "That's because of the Carter genes... Carter's never usually miserable, and Daniel... is."

Sam, who was by this point reclining, her head resting on Daniel's lap, looked up at her fiancé, grinning, and said, "Oh, I'll say that that's an inaccurate assessment Sir. Daniel's got a nice smile and he uses it to good effect."

Daniel smiled down at her, tenderly caressing her jaw, his fingers gently tapping out a rhythm, and Jack cringed, exclaiming, "Carter! Don't go any further - that's an order!"

Mini-Jack replied, cringing too, "Glad you said that. I like this cake."

Sam and Daniel both looked at the Jacks innocently, Teal'c smiling proudly as Jonas, Vala and Cam looked increasingly amused, the Astrophysicist remarking, "Why Sir... I never knew you had it in you..."

The General stared at her, retorting, "The rumours on-base are bad enough. I don't need the images."

Daniel asked, his eyebrows raised, "Which rumours would you be referring to, Jack? You and Teal'c? You and me? You, me and Teal'c? You, me, Teal'c and Sam? You, me, Teal'c, Sam, Mitchell, Vala and Jonas?"

Sam looked at him in bemusement as did the rest, and Jack cringed, mini-Jack remarking, "The things that happen after I go..."

Most of everyone shot him a look, and Jack said slowly, "Ok... that last one would be very messy."

Everyone began to look awkward, Cassie remarking, "You guys! Sheesh, cut that out! There are kids present."

As Daniel and the Jacks looked suitably chastised, Sam remarked, amused, "Wow, Cass, you should be on SG-1. We could just go up to the Ori and you could give them some of that Frasier spirit."

Cassie said, her smile momentarily fading as she glanced at Daniel, "I'd give that man the brunt of the Frasier spirit if he dies on us again."

Jack remarked as Sam reached up to lightly graze Daniel's jaw with her knuckles, "Your Mom would give him a good booting if she knew about the number of times he's gone AWOL since..."

Cam added, exchanging a little glance with Vala, "I think Sam would do that if he does it again."

Sam, gazing up at Daniel, said firmly, "Damn straight."

---------------------

_Woo hoo… thanks for reading – reviews much appreciated. Sequel in Jackson Junior: Nuptial Preludes, coming to your screens soon… hopefully. : )_


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